Overall Green alert Tropical Cyclone for DESMOND-19
in Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar

Event summary

Tropical Cyclone DESMOND-19 can have a low humanitarian impact based on the maximum sustained wind speed, exposed population and vulnerability.

GDACS ID TC 1000543
Name DESMOND-19
From - To 20 Jan - 21 Jan
Exposed countries Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar
Exposed population No people in Category 1 or higher
Maximum wind speed 102 km/h Tropical storm
Maximum storm surge 0.7 m (21 Jan 17:00 UTC)
Vulnerability High (Madagascar)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
Wind Storm surge Rainfall GDACS score
GDACS JTWC 65 km/h 0.8 m n.a. 0.5
Single TC: maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge, rainfall)
HWRF n.a n.a. n.a. n.a.
GFS n.a n.a. n.a. n.a.
ECMWF n.a n.a. n.a. n.a.
Maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge and rainfall) using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Mozambique - Tropical cyclone DESMOND update (ECHO 23 Jan 2019)Wed, 23 Jan 2019 10:57

  • Damage was sustained to infrastructure in Beira City (Dondo District, Sofala Province) after the passage of tropical cyclone DESMOND in central Mozambique on 21 January,
  • Over the next 24 hours, heavy rain, strong winds and thunderstorms are forecast over central Mozambique (Manica, Tete, Zambézia and Sofala Provinces) and over southern Malawi.
Mozambique - Tropical cyclone DESMOND (ECHO 22 Jan 2019)Tue, 22 Jan 2019 10:58

  • Tropical cyclone DESMOND continues moving north-west, weakening. It made landfall in the province of Zambézia (Mozambique), near the border with the Sofala province and approx. 130 km south-west of Nicuadala town, as a Tropical Storm with maximum sustained winds up to 65 Km/h.
  • Over the next 24 hours, it is forecast to continue moving north towards the Zambézia Province, weakening and dissipating. Heavy rainfall, strong winds and thunderstorms could still affect many districts of the Sofala Province (Marromeu, Cheringoma, Caia, Muanza, Dondo, Buzi, Nhamatanda, Maringué) and Zambézia Province (Chinde, Mopeia Luabo, Namacurra, Nicoadala, Mocuba, Maganja da costa Morrumbala).
  • As of 22 January at 8:00 UTC, there are no casualties reported.
Mozambique - Tropical cyclone DESMOND (ECHO 21 Jan 2019)Mon, 21 Jan 2019 10:47

  • Tropical cyclone DESMOND formed over the southern Mozambique Channel on 20 January before moving north as a tropical storm. On 21 January its centre was approximately 375 km south-east of Quelimane City (Zambezia Province, central Mozambique) with maximum sustained winds of 65 km/h (tropical storm).
  • Over the next 24 hours, it is forecast to continue north-north-west towards Zambezia Province and could approach the coast on the morning of 22 January (UTC) as a tropical storm.
  • Heavy rainfall, strong winds and thunderstorms could affect Zambezia and Sofala Provinces.
Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

Articles: 87 | About casualties: 0 | Last hour: 0

Mozambique: 20,000 displaced by tropical stormThu, 24 Jan 2019 15:50:00 +0100.

APA-Maputo (Mozambique) Mozambique's Institute of Natural Disaster management (INGC) says it has opened five accommodation centers in the city of Beira, the capital of the central province of Sofala, to shelter 18,295 displaced people after
...(more)
Météo-Boeny – La tempête Desmond sème la paniqueThu, 24 Jan 2019 06:18:00 +0100.

Le passage de la tempête tropicale modérée Desmond dans le canal de Mozambique a entraîné de la pluie et du vent dans le Boeny. Les dégâts sont nombreux. La région Boeny et surtout la ville de Mahajanga ont vécu une nuit et deux journées te
...(more)
Flooding in Mozambique as Tropical Cyclone Desmond makes landfallThu, 24 Jan 2019 01:58:00 +0100.

Region on high alert as a second storm begins to emerge to the east of the country. Mozambique’s fourth-largest city has been inundated by flooding after being hit by a tropical cyclone. Tropical Cyclone Desmond formed in the Mozambique Cha
...(more)
400 people homeless as Tropical Cyclone Desmond lashes MozambiqueWed, 23 Jan 2019 13:01:00 +0100.

According to experts, tropical Cyclone Desmond formed in the Mozambique Channel early on Tuesday and drifted slowly northwest towards the coast. Fortunately, the winds in the upper atmosphere were much stronger than those near the surface,
...(more)

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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Analytical products

Daily Maps:

21/Jan/2019 06:27 UTC

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (38), (2), WMO (1), INFORM (2),