There is evidence that the world has been witnessing more intense
tropical cyclones. Accompanying these tropical cyclones are heightened
levels of devastation that witness the loss of human life and wildlife,
destruction of natural resources and property and the disruption of
major economic and social activities. To this end, there is a growing
demand for publications focusing on tropical cyclones at various levels
that include regional, national and local levels, especially from
Africa. One sub-region that has been witnessing the harsh realities of
the increasing intensity of tropical cyclones in southern Africa.
However, within this region, countries are usually impacted at varying
degrees of damage. Among the countries that usually encounter the
harshness of these tropical cyclones are the Comoros, Botswana,
Madagascar, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Reunion, the Seychelles,
South Africa and Zimbabwe. From the history books, the following
tropical cyclones made landfall and hit southern Africa: Eline (2000),
Favio (2007), Dineo (2017), Idai (2019), Kenneth (2019), Eliose (2021),
and Chalane (2020). Although all these tropical cyclones had negative
impacts, it is undoubtedly Tropical Cyclone Idai that shocked the world
with its devastation mainly in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in March
2019. Key infrastructure was destroyed, livelihoods were lost, and the
environment was degraded. Thousands of people died, many more were
injured, many remain unaccounted for and others remained homeless as of
the time of finalising this book in February 2021.
This book, therefore focuses on the devastating impacts of Tropical
Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe. The book interfaces Tropical Cyclone Idai's
impacts with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and some of the
17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This linkage was deliberate
given that there is still time remaining until 2030, and the world has
generally agreed to move into the future along the pathways of
sustainable development and sustainability. The book adds to the first
comprehensive profiling of the impacts of tropical cyclones on southern
African economies, particularly that of Zimbabwe. It also comes up as
the first in a three-volume series. The other volumes to look out for
are Cyclones in Southern Africa Vol 2: Foundational and Fundamental
Topics; and Cyclones in Southern Africa Vol 3: Implications for the
Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, this book is suitable as a
read for several professionals and disciplines such as tourism and
hospitality studies, economics, sustainable development, development
studies, environmental sciences, arts, geography, life sciences,
politics, planning and public health.
