Study results coincide with rising death toll in the Eastern Cape

AS THE death toll rose to 67 on Thursday from the recent floods in the Eastern Cape, Dr Mary-Jane Bopape, Managing Director of the South African Environmental Observation Network (NRF-SAEON), along with her research collaborators, just released a comprehensive analysis of weather-related disasters in South Africa from 1980 to 2023.

- EDWIN LOMBARD

The research, utilising data from respected sources such as the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) and synoptic charts provided by the South African Weather Service, offers critical insights that are set to transform our understanding of climate resilience and disaster management.

The study, which draws on sophisticated meteorological reanalyses such as the fifth generation European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting reanalysis (ERA5) and data from the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), identifies floods and storms as the most recurrent weather-related disasters faced in South Africa.

Notably, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province is highlighted as the most affected region, with the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality emerging as the area with the highest number of recorded disaster events across the entire country.