Flooding event during the period from 11 to 23 March 2019 from satellite

The Central region of Mozambique, particularly the Sofala Province was affected by the Cyclone IDAI followed by intense rains over 100mm from 13 to 23 March 2019. Observations from satellite images shew several infrastructures and croplands as well were damaged. Figure 01 shows the amount of precipitation recorded during the period from 11to 23 March 2019 in the different districts and figure 02 indicates its distribution.

Based on Sentinel-1 SAR imageries, water extent during the flooding period was achieved. Water extent during the normal season was also mapped. Expanded water extent was analyzed indicating a total of 381248.8hectares(about 5.6% of total land) was flooded in Sofala province. The map of Figure03-a shows the extent of the water during the period under analysis. From the affected areas, the districts of Buzi, Machanga, Nhamatanda and Chibabava are highlighted as the most affected ones with an area of about 130,259.9ha, 128.257.3ha, 30,611.5ha and 20,115.3ha respectively of land flooded. 

To estimate the extent of the cropland area affected by the floods, the land cover and land use data over the Province were used. Analyses showed that 15391.4 hectares cropland were submerged during this period, accounting for 2.7% of the total cropland in the province. Among the affected cropland areas, the districts of Buzi, Nhamatanda, Machanga andDondo were the most severe flooded districts with 9,724.7ha, 1,682.6ha,1,281.7ha and 1,136.6ha respectively of cropland damaged by floods. The results of this analysis can be seen on the map of figure 03-b.

Figure 01. Amount of precipitation recorded in the Districts of Sofala Province from 11 to 23 March 2019 (Data Source: GPM: Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) V5 collection, processed in Google Earth Engine environment).

Figure 2.Accumulated rainfall distribution over the Sofala Province from 11 to 23 March 2019

Figure 3-a (left) water extension in Sofala Province and figure 3-b (right) cropland and non-cropland areas affected by floods.