April 26, 2019

Last month, in March, Tropical Cyclone Idai struck the southeastern coast of Africa. One of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, Idai caused catastrophic landslides and flooding that killed more than 1,000 people in Mozambique and in neighboring Malawi and Zimbabwe. The storm left more than 300,000 people homeless and led to deadly outbreaks of cholera and increased cases of malaria. More than a month later, thousands of people remain missing in affected areas, and government and international aid agencies continue to struggle to provide badly needed food, water, and medical supplies.

On March 23, 2019, residents of Beira, a coastal city in central Mozambique, survey the damage done by Cyclone Idai. Credit: © Yasuyoshi Chiba, AFP/Getty Images

Cyclone Idai formed as a tropical depression over the warm waters of the southwestern Indian Ocean in early March. The storm intensified into a cyclone as it struck central Mozambique on March 4. Torrential rains and deadly winds whipped coastal areas for days as Idai spun along the Mozambique Channel between the African mainland and the island of Madagascar. Idai varied in strength, until reaching peak intensity with winds of 150 miles (240 kilometers) per hour on March 14. After 17 days of damage and deluge, the storm finally weakened and dissipated on March 21.

This satellite image shows Cyclone Idai in the Mozambique Channel on March 14, 2019. Credit: NASA

The broad and determined storm reached inland to Malawi and Zimbabwe and pelted coastal areas of Madagascar. The storm extensively damaged or destroyed vital infrastructure, including communication networks, hospitals, roads, sanitation facilities, and schools. Wide swaths of farmland were ruined, portions of forests were flattened by high winds, and flooding created a temporary inland sea in Mozambique that measured some 80 miles (130 kilometers) long and 15 miles (24 kilometers) wide. Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi called Cyclone Idai a “humanitarian disaster of great proportion.”

Mozambique. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Mozambique’s typically able Instituto Nacional de Gestão de Calamidades (National Disasters Management Institute) was overwhelmed by the scale of Idai’s destruction, and an urgent note verbale (formal diplomatic notice) went out requesting international help. The Red Cross and Red Crescent, Doctors Without Borders, and several United Nations organizations came to the rescue, as did the European Union and the governments of Canada, France, Portugal, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Cyclone Idai was the seventh tropical cyclone of the Indian Ocean season, more than twice the average for this time of year. Globally, high-intensity storms have been occurring more frequently in recent years, a trend directly related to climate change. Global warming increases sea temperatures, creating more moisture and instability in the atmosphere—factors crucial to the birth of dangerous cyclones and hurricanes. Tropical cyclones need high humidity and surface water temperatures of 79 °F (26 °C ) or higher to form. Melting glaciers and ice have increased global sea levels, resulting in more frequent and intense flooding in coastal areas around the world.

December 5, 2017

On Nov. 24, 2017, Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in as the new president of Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in southern Africa. The transfer of government power is routine in many countries, taking place every few years or even more frequently. In Zimbabwe, however, this has not been the case. Mnangagwa’s presidency followed the 37-year reign of President Robert Mugabe—a period that covers the entire short and volatile history of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

Emmerson Mnangagwa became Zimbabwe’s second president on Nov. 24, 2017. Credit: Jean-Marc Ferré, UN Photo

Since the late 1800′s, the area that is now Zimbabwe has had a troubled, often violent, political history. The vast majority of Zimbabwe’s people are black Africans, but whites (and the United Kingdom) controlled the country from about 1890 to 1979. During the last decade of white rule, black nationalists in Zimbabwe—then called Rhodesia—engaged in guerrilla warfare against the government. The first black-majority government was elected in 1979. However, many people rejected this government, and guerrilla violence continued. A cease-fire led to new elections in 1980, and Robert Mugabe, one of the principal rebel leaders, became prime minister (and later president) of the independent nation of Zimbabwe.

President Robert Mugabe dominated Zimbabwe politics for 37 years. Credit: The Office of the President of Russia (licensed under CC BY 4.0)

After gaining power, Mugabe faced down armed rebellions and decades of political opposition. He also won numerous disputed elections often marred by violence and voter intimidation. His policies benefited political allies and parts of the nation’s population (and greatly enriched himself and his family), while people who resisted his rule often lost their homes, their land—even their freedom. Zimbabwe’s economy suffered badly under Mugabe, and millions of people lived in abject poverty.

In 2017, Mugabe—now 93 years old and perhaps sensing the end was near—finally pushed things too far. On November 6, Mugabe fired Vice President Mnangagwa, clearing the way for Grace Mugabe, his 52-year-old wife, to take the post and succeed him as president at the end of his term in 2018. After the firing, Mnangagwa fled to South Africa, and the seeds of unrest sprouted in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city and long a hotbed of anti-Mugabe sentiment.

On November 14, Zimbabwe’s military turned against Mugabe, and tanks rumbled through the streets of Harare. On November 15, Mugabe was placed under house arrest (purportedly for his own safety), but the military denied that it had staged a coup d’etat (forced government takeover). Violent protests called for Mugabe to officially step down, but he initially refused. Finally, on November 21, as Zimbabwe’s parliament began impeachment proceedings to remove Mugabe, the self-styled “Grand Old Man” of African politics resigned.

Emmerson Mnangagwa (who is 75 years old) reentered the country on November 22. Two days later he became just the second president in Zimbabwe’s history. The position is potentially a temporary one, as he is listed as an interim replacement until elections scheduled for September 2018.