Tropical Cyclone Dineo was one of the deadliest on record in the South-West Indian Ocean and Southern Hemisphere as a whole.
Meteorological history
The origins of Dineo can be tracked back to a cluster of thunderstorms that organized into an area of low pressure in the Mozambique Channel on 11 February. Over the next two days, the system gradually drifted in a generally southern track as it gained intensity and prompted the JTWC to issue a TCFA.
On 13 February, RSMC La Réunion declared that a Tropical Disturbance had formed in the area and began issuing advisories.
Located in a very favorable environment, the depression quickly increased in intensity and both the RSMC and JTWC noted winds of at least later that day, with the RSMC subsequently naming the storm
Dineo. Dineo intensified to a tropical cyclone later on. It reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h) and a low barometric pressure of 955 hPa (mbar); 28.20 inHg on 15 February. Dineo made landfall on the coast of Mozambique, and it started weakening after landfall on the same day. On 17 February after making landfall, the JTWC issued the final advisory on Dineo. Dineo later dissipated after a few hours on the same day.
Impact
Dineo struck Mozambique on 15 February as a tropical cyclone, bringing torrential rain and damaging winds.
Dineo was the first tropical cyclone to hit Mozambique since
Cyclone Jokwe in 2008.
Satellite-derived estimates indicated up to of rain fell in
Inhambane.
At least seven people were killed across the country,
including a child crushed by a fallen tree in
Massinga.
An estimated 20,000 homes were destroyed and approximately 130,000 people were directly affected.
Widespread flooding took place in
Zimbabwe, with Mutare, Chiredzi, and Beitbridge particularly hard-hit.
At least 271 people were killed by the storm and damage exceeded US$200 million.
The storm's remnants triggered destructive floods in
Botswana.
[http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/MDRBW003.pdf ] In the month following the storm, a
cholera outbreak in Mozambique and Malawi infected more than 1,200 people and claimed 2 lives.
See also
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Weather of 2017
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Tropical cyclones in 2017
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Cyclone Jokwe (2008) – The most recent tropical cyclone to hit Mozambique prior to Dineo
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Cyclone Idai (2019) – A similar, but stronger and deadlier tropical cyclone which affected similar areas
