The National Disaster Management Advisory Forum (NDMAF) meeting
The National Disaster Management Advisory Forum (NDMAF) met in Centurion on Thursday, 8 June.
Seasonal Climate Watch
The Forum noted the extreme weather conditions and the subsequent devastation caused by them in the Western Cape. However, the Forum was pleased to be informed that the severe weather conditions were likely to ease back and the Southern Cape region was highly likely to receive normal rainfall around the 3rd week of June.
South African Weather Service’s (SAWS) Dr Eugene Poolman stated that forecasting systems were easing back and the possibility of a Sub-borderline El Nino had lessened since the last observation.
Dr Poolman indicated that areas that experienced severe dry conditions were likely to receive normal rainfall between June and mid August. However, he cautioned that the signals were not strong enough to determine the approximate levels of expected rainfall conditions during midwinter.
Seasonal Hazard Profile
The National Disaster Management (NDMC), through its Early Warning and Capability Management Systems (EWCMS) Directorate will be launching the Seasonal Hazard Profile, which will provide seasonal hazard information combined with medium term (3 month) weather forecasts from the South African Weather Services.
This was revealed by Mark van Staden, Deputy Director in the EWCMS unit; he stated that the profile relied on historical observations and analysis performed by partnered institutions with specialist hazard and meteorological knowledge.
The Seasonal Hazard Profile seeks to:
- Provide insights into the spatial and temporal nature of hazards throughout South Africa.
- Create awareness around potential and current conditions (situational awareness) in order to augment short –term early warning systems.
- Guide medium term operational and tactical planning in order to mitigate identified risk.
- Assist in identifying possible areas where disaster risk reduction (DRR) initiatives, to minimize risk, may be targeted.
The profile, which will be released at the beginning of each three month cycle (quarterly), will be shared with provincial and municipal disaster management centres and other stakeholders within the disaster management fraternity. (Available on the NDMC website: http://www.ndmc.gov.za)
State of Water and Electricity
Giving an update based on a three months electricity forecast, Eskom’s Robert Koch said the power grid remained stable and, given Eskom's delivery on its capital projects and generation maintenance programme, there were no capacity concerns for meeting winter demand. South Africans are encouraged to continue with their energy saving efforts.
The Department of Water and Sanitation stated that dam levels remained improved across the country with winter rainfall regions being an exception. It was however, noted that the forecast of above-normal rainfall for the Western Cape was likely to improve the water situation in the province.
The Forum also discussed the states of disaster declared in the reporting period across the Country as well as the development of further guidelines for the classification of disasters and the declaration of a state of disaster. The meeting was also appraised on the current situation unfolding in the Western Cape due to the severe weather condition and the disastrous fire in the Knysna area.
Other notable presentations were delivered by the Council for Geoscience on geohazards and the recent seismic events that occurred in the region, as well as the Findings on the Child Protection Rapid Assessment conducted by World Vision South Africa.
The Forum will meet again on Thursday, 7 September 2017.
Enquiries:
Legadima Leso
CoGTA Communications
Cell: 083 378 9495
