Acting ahead of Licungo floods: Tropical Storm Ana causes flooding in northern Mozambique

The first alert of a tropical storm forming in the Indian Ocean, and heading west towards Madagascar and Mozambique, was issued on 16 January 2022. Tropical Storm Ana made landfall on 24 January in Angoche District, northern Mozambique, and brought heavy rainfall to both Nampula and Zambezia Provinces. As a result, water levels in the Licungo River rose, exceeding the trigger level on 25 January at Mocuba water gauge, which is used to determine and initiate early actions under Mozambique's Early Action Protocol (EAP) for Floods.

The EAP was finalized in 2020 in the context of a forecast-based financing (FbF) project implemented by the Mozambique Red Cross Society, with support from the German Red Cross. It set up forecast-based triggers in four river basins in Mozambique, which are based on critical water levels for flood magnitudes for a 1-in-5-year return period.

In anticipation of flooding, staff and volunteers from the Mozambique Red Cross Society started conducting early actions from 25 January to support 850 households (around 4,250 people) who are expected to be most affected in the Licungo basin. The early actions included:

• distribution of early warning messages on floodwater levels to at-risk communities
• distribution of emergency supplies, such as mosquito nets, mugs, buckets, tablets for water purification, and vacuum plastic bags to protect personal documents
• mobilization of staff and volunteers of the Mozambique Red Cross Society.

In the last cyclone season (2020/21), Mozambique experienced two cyclones in short sequence. Tropical Cyclone Chalane in December 2020 triggered the activation of Mozambique’s EAP for Cyclones, followed by Cyclone Eloïse, which led to floods in Lower Limpopo in January 2021 (see storymap here).