Cyclones in Southern Africa: Volume 1: Interfacing the Catastrophic Impact of Cyclone Idai with SDGs in Zimbabwe (Sustainable Development Goals Series)

There is evidence that the world has been witnessing more intense tropical cyclones. Accompanying these tropical cyclones are heightened levels of devastation that witness the loss of human life and wildlife, destruction of natural resources and property and the disruption of major economic and social activities. To this end, there is a growing demand for publications focusing on tropical cyclones at various levels that include regional, national and local levels, especially from Africa. One sub-region that has been witnessing the harsh realities of the increasing intensity of tropical cyclones in southern Africa. However, within this region, countries are usually impacted at varying degrees of damage. Among the countries that usually encounter the harshness of these tropical cyclones are the Comoros, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Reunion, the Seychelles, South Africa and Zimbabwe. From the history books, the following tropical cyclones made landfall and hit southern Africa: Eline (2000), Favio (2007), Dineo (2017), Idai (2019), Kenneth (2019), Eliose (2021), and Chalane (2020). Although all these tropical cyclones had negative impacts, it is undoubtedly Tropical Cyclone Idai that shocked the world with its devastation mainly in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in March 2019. Key infrastructure was destroyed, livelihoods were lost, and the environment was degraded. Thousands of people died, many more were injured, many remain unaccounted for and others remained homeless as of the time of finalising this book in February 2021. This book, therefore focuses on the devastating impacts of Tropical Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe. The book interfaces Tropical Cyclone Idai’s impacts with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and some of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This linkage was deliberate given that there is still time remaining until 2030, and the world has generally agreed to move into the future along the pathways of sustainable development and sustainability. The book adds to the first comprehensive profiling of the impacts of tropical cyclones on southern African economies, particularly that of Zimbabwe. It also comes up as the first in a three-volume series. The other volumes to look out for are Cyclones in Southern Africa Vol 2: Foundational and Fundamental Topics; and Cyclones in Southern Africa Vol 3: Implications for the Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, this book is suitable as a read for several professionals and disciplines such as tourism and hospitality studies, economics, sustainable development, development studies, environmental sciences, arts, geography, life sciences, politics, planning and public health. Preface Acknowledgements Contents About the Authors Part I: Introduction and Background 1: The Catastrophic Impact of Tropical Cyclone Idai in Southern Africa 1.1 Introduction and Background 1.2 Summary of the Methodological Orientation 1.3 Catastrophic Impact of Tropical Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe 1.3.1 An Overview 1.3.2 What Victims and Residents Heard and Saw 1.3.3 Rescue, Death, Injury, the Missing, Displacements and Psycho-social Support 1.3.4 Impact on Transportation and Telecommunications Infrastructure 1.3.5 Impacts on the Health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Sectors 1.3.6 Impact on the Agricultural Sector 1.3.7 Impact on Housing, Business and Related Infrastructure 1.3.8 Damaged Educational Facilities 1.3.9 Impact on Natural Resources, Wildlife and Tourism Attractions 1.3.10 Challenges in Early Warning and other DRR Management systems 1.3.11 The (Un)sung Heroes of Tropical Cyclone Idai Rescues and Other Missions 1.4 Book and Chapter Outline References Part II: Conceptual and Global Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2: The B4 Model (Building and Building Back Better) in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management 2.1 Introduction and Background 2.2 A Literature Survey: Towards the B4 Model 2.2.1 Climate Change as the Dominant Global Disaster 2.2.2 Drawing from the Concept of Resilience 2.2.3 The Concepts of Adaptation and Adaptive Capacity 2.2.4 The BBB Principle 2.3 BBB After Cyclones and Floods in Southern Africa 2.4 Putting It All Together: The B4 Model 2.5 Conclusion and Recommendations References 3: Use and Contestations of Earth Observation Technologies in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management 3.1 Introduction and Background 3.2 Materials and Methods 3.3 Presentation of Data and Discussion of Findings 3.3.1 Global Frameworks on Ethical EO 3.3.2 Identified Ethical Issues 3.3.2.1 Privacy and Security Concerns 3.3.2.2 Method of Map Generation 3.3.2.3 Demonstrating Respect for Individuals and Communities 3.3.2.4 Handling Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) 3.3.2.5 Communicating EO Data 3.3.2.6 Addressing Ethical Issues in EO Use During DRR 3.4 Conclusions References 4: Naming of Tropical Cyclones: The World Meteorological Organisation Calls It Idai, While Grassroots Know It as Dutumupengo 4.1 Introduction and Background 4.2 Materials and Methods 4.3 Presentation and Discussion of Findings 4.3.1 The Naming of Tropical Cyclones 4.3.2 How Did the Name Idai Emerge? 4.3.3 Cyclone Idai’s Other Names from Chimanimani, Including Dutumupengo 4.4 Conclusion and Recommendations References Part III: Impacts of Tropical Cyclone Idai on Selected Sectors 5: Scaled-up Illegal Gold Mining Activities in Chimanimani Post-Tropical Cyclone Idai 5.1 Introduction and Background 5.2 Materials and Methods 5.3 Presentation and Discussion of Findings 5.3.1 Tropical Cyclone Idai Gold Rush 5.3.2 Environmental Damage and Threats to Tourism 5.3.3 Violence and Health-related Matters 5.4 Conclusions and Recommendations References 6: Energy Infrastructure and the Building Back Better Concept: Lessons from Tropical Cyclone Idai 6.1 Introduction and Background 6.2 Materials and Methods 6.3 Presentation and Discussion of Findings 6.3.1 Impacts on, and Building Back Better Grid Electricity Infrastructure 6.3.2 Impacts on Liquid Fossil Fuels and Solar Energy Infrastructure 6.4 Conclusions and Policy Recommendations References 7: Floods in the Midst of Drought: Impact of Tropical Cyclone Idai on Water Security in South-Eastern Zimbabwe 7.1 Introduction and Background 7.2 Literature Survey 7.3 Materials and Methods 7.4 Findings and Discussion 7.5 Conclusions References 8: Building Back Better Domestic and Irrigation Water Supply Systems in the Aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Idai 8.1 Introduction 8.2 BBB in the Context of Agriculture, Water and Related SDGs 8.3 Materials and Methods 8.4 Presentation and Discussions of Key Findings 8.4.1 Impact on Domestic Water Supply Systems 8.4.2 Impacts of Tropical Cyclone Idai on Irrigation Water System 8.5 Conclusions and Recommendations References Part IV: Tropical Cyclone Idai Acts of Kindness 9: Ethical Philanthropy and Social Responsibility During Natural Disasters: The Higherlife Foundation and Tropical Cyclone Idai Interventions 9.1 Introduction and Background 9.2 Literature: The Contested Space of Disaster Philanthropy and CSR 9.3 Methodology 9.4 Presentation of Data and Discussion of Findings 9.4.1 Understanding the Disaster Magnitude and Partnership with Econet 9.4.2 Volunteerism Perspectives 9.4.3 Child Protection Engagements 9.4.4 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Activities 9.4.5 The Education Component 9.5 Conclusion References 10: The Chimanimani Hotel and Tropical Cyclone Idai: When Humanitarian Needs Are Priority Over Business Interests 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Literature Survey 10.3 Materials and Methods 10.4 Presentation of Data and Key Findings 10.4.1 Tropical Cyclone Idai: The Chimanimani Hotel’s Staff Accounts 10.4.2 Involvement During Disaster Relief and Recovery Stages 10.4.3 GM’s Acts Aligned with the SDG’s Call for Local Action 10.5 Conclusion References Part V: Looking Ahead in Order to Act Today 11: Ethical and Human Rights Dilemmas During Disasters: Emerging Findings from Tropical Cyclone Idai 11.1 Introduction and Background 11.2 Materials and Methods 11.3 Presentation and Discussion of Findings 11.3.1 Sex-for-Food (Aid), the Politicisation of Aid and Other Dilemmas 11.3.2 Expired Foods, Old/Reject Clothes and Other Logistics 11.3.3 The Behaviour of Victims and Other Selected Key Stakeholders 11.4 Conclusions and Recommendations References 12: Religious Engagements with Tropical Cyclone Idai and Implications for Building Back Better 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Literature Review 12.3 Materials and Methods 12.4 Presentation and Discussion of Findings 12.4.1 Causes of Tropical Cyclone Idai and Excessive Flooding 12.4.2 Community Warned of Tropical Cyclone Idai by the Spirit Medium 12.4.3 Religious Belief System and the Implications for BBB 12.5 Conclusions References 13: Exploring the Potential of Dark Tourism in the Aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Literature Survey 13.3 Materials, Methods and Study Site 13.4 Presentation of Data and Discussion of Findings 13.4.1 General Overview of Tourism Attractions 13.4.2 Government’s Commitment to Develop Dark Tourism Sites 13.4.3 Proposed Dark Tourism Map: From the Authors’ Field Experiences 13.4.4 Beyond the Monuments: Call for Tropical Cyclone Idai Museums 13.5 Conclusions References 14: Tropical Cyclone Idai and Flood Hazard Modelling in the Eastern Parts of the Save Catchment, Zimbabwe 14.1 Introduction and Background 14.2 Literature Survey 14.3 Materials and Methods 14.3.1 Flood-risk Maps 14.3.2 Validation 14.4 Findings and Discussions 14.5 Conclusion, Recommendations and Flood-risk Management Contingent Plan References Part VI: Conclusion and Policy Recommendations 15: Tropical Cyclone Idai: Summary of Key Findings and Recommendations to Enhance the B4 Model in Zimbabwe 15.1 Introduction 15.2 A Recap of the DRR Institutional Framework in Zimbabwe 15.3 Early Warning Systems 15.3.1 Key Findings 15.3.2 Key Recommendations 15.4 Search and Rescue 15.4.1 Key Findings 15.4.2 Key Recommendations 15.5 Response and Relief 15.5.1 Key Findings 15.5.2 Key Recommendations 15.6 Recovery (Including Rehabilitation and Reformation) 15.6.1 Key Findings 15.6.2 Key Recommendations 15.7 Cross-cutting Matters 15.7.1 Key Findings 15.7.2 Key Recommendations References Index