Tuning into ‘amateur’ radio airwaves in Mozambique (Australia)

“Victor Delta Foxtrot, do you copy? Weather check – over”

The voice crackles to life over radio airwaves in the port city of Maputo in Mozambique. It’s the first radio check of its kind in a country still reeling from the double disaster of cyclones Idai and Kenneth in 2019. The two extreme weather events slammed into Mozambique just six weeks apart, becoming two of the deadliest storms on record in Africa.

Cyclone Idai caused 1,300 deaths across south-eastern Africa while cyclone Kenneth was one of the strongest to ever make landfall on the continent with extraordinary wind speeds of 220 km per hour.

Across Mozambique, severe flooding caused by Kenneth ripped homes apart, brought down power lines, and left rubble where roads and building had stood. In one of the worst moments of the Idai disaster, communities fled to rooftops and trees to escape the sudden floodwaters slamming into their homes below.

Read more – The Mirage: https://bit.ly/3U7JvSm