Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUnifeed
GENEVA / MOZAMBIQUE FREDDY STORM
STORY: GENEVA / MOZAMBIQUE FREDDY STORM
TRT: 01:45
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 24 FEBRUARY 2023 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot exterior UN flag alley
2. Med shot, speakers at podium, press conference room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“Tropical Cyclone Freddy has hit Madagascar with strong winds and high seas, and literally, as I'm speaking, it’s now threatening Mozambique with -it’s not so much the winds here- but its very, very dangerous and exceptional rainfall levels.”
4. Med shot, press conference room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“Météo France issued a warning of intense rainfall south of Beira, which is close to landfall, exceeding 200 to 300 millimeters and locally 400 millimeters in 72 hours. That is immense.”
6. Close up, journalist
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“The soils in Mozambique are already saturated. The river basin levels are already past alert level because there have been very, very heavy seasonal rainfalls so far. So, we shouldn't underestimate the threat of this additional rain.”
8. Med shot, camera, press room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“The Mozambique's National Disaster Management Authority said that the flooding could affect up to 1.75 million people, and our colleagues at OCHA warns that the confluence of multiple threats is compounding a severe humanitarian situation in Mozambique.”
10. Various shots, journalists, speakers
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that exceptional rainfall is expected in Mozambique as tropical storm Freddy roars in.
Flooding could impact 1.75 million people in the southeastern African country.
Tropical cyclone Freddy, which has been sweeping across the Indian Ocean for several days, killed 7 people in Madagascar.
It is now projected to make landfall in Mozambique today (24 Feb), as a severe tropical storm, warned WMO.
“Tropical Cyclone Freddy has hit Madagascar with strong winds and high seas, and it's now literally threatening Mozambique with -not so much winds here- but its very dangerous and exceptional rainfall levels,” explained Clare Nullis, WMO spokesperson at the press briefing in Geneva today.
There is a potential risk that months’ worth of rainfall may fall in the space of a few days, according to estimates from the WMO’s Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre in the neighboring French island of La Réunion.
“Météo France issued a warning of intense rainfall south of Beira, which is close to landfall, exceeding 200 to 300 millimeters and locally 400 millimeters in 72 hours. That is immense,” alerted Nullis.
Some 400,000 people are living in the areas of Freddy's projected trajectory, but the flooding could affect up to 1.75 million people according to Mozambique's National Institute for Disaster Management.
With the rainy season that started in October last year, the soils in Mozambique are already saturated.
“The river basin levels are already past alert level because there have been very heavy seasonal rainfalls so far,” said Nullis.
“We shouldn't underestimate the threat of this additional rain.”
Cyclone Freddy will continue to generate massive rain and flooding in the southeastern part of Africa, increasing the risk of cholera.
Mozambique is struggling to contain an outbreak that has affected more than 5,200 people since September 2022.
Over the past two weeks, cholera cases increased sharply by 17 percent in the country.
The confluence of multiple threats is compounding a severe humanitarian situation in Mozambique, where two million people need humanitarian assistance and protection, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Download
There is no media available to download.
