With free buses and WhatsApp, southern Africa steps up storm preparedness
RAY MWAREYA and NYASHA BHOBO WHEN tropical storm Chalane threatened Zimbabwe and Mozambique late last year, government authorities and aid agencies sprang into action, having learned lessons from the destruction and loss of life caused by cyclones in 2019. That year, two consecutive cyclones - Idai in March and Kenneth in April – brought unusually heavy rains and high winds, causing more than 1,000 deaths across southern Africa and affecting nearly 4 million people. In late December 2020, ahead of Chalane's arrival in Mozambique and eastern Zimbabwe, it was feared lives, property and infrastructure might be hit hard again. In…