Member States convene to discuss strategies for flood risk preparedness

Summary

The deliberations of the LIMCOM Flood Forecasting Task Team will be presented at the upcoming LIMCOM Commissioners’ meeting for review and approval.

LIMCOM Member States met on 17 October 2025 for a Flood Forecasting Task Team meeting to enhance basin-wide preparedness against flood risks.

The Limpopo River Basin (LRB) shared by Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe, faces increasing threats from climate-induced extreme weather events including floods that have caused widespread damage to infrastructure, agriculture and livelihoods.

Therefore, enhancing early warning systems is a critical priority for the basin.

Speaking at a virtually meeting, Mr. Moalosi Moncho representing Botswana as the LIMCOM Chair, emphasized the importance of a coordinated approach among Member States to effectively address natural disasters in the LRB.

“Strengthening coordination and ensuring that every link in our response chain is robust and reliable is essential to guiding our disaster risk management teams,” he said.

He urged Member States to align its forecast with the recent seasonal outlook issued by the 31st Southern Africa Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF-31), which convened on 1-11 September 2025.

SARCOF-31 projected that most of southern Africa is likely to receive normal to above-normal rainfall during the October-December (OND) 2025 and January-March (JFM) 2026 periods.

According to SARCOF-31, “the forecasted probabilities are broadly consistent with the known influence of La Niña on the regional climate of southern Africa,” reinforcing expectations of wetter-than-usual conditions across much of the region.

The deliberations of the LIMCOM Flood Forecasting Task Team will be presented at the upcoming LIMCOM Commissioners’ meeting for review and approval.