Mozambican builder José Joaquim is determined to never again put his family through the terror of living through a cyclone in a flimsy house. When Cyclone Idai crashed on to Mozambique's coastline five years ago, he was living with his wife and new-born baby in a shelter with corrugated iron roofing in the city of Beira. "I made a wise decision to leave, to abandon the house so I could save my family," the 27-year-old says. Idai caused massive devastation and a heavy loss of life - 1,500 people died and another three million were affected across three countries.
This could be catastrophic for a country with the third longest Indian Ocean coastline. Now whenever clouds gather, people here become visibly worried about the possibility of deadly floods brought on by tropical cyclones. This has forced people, like Mr Joaquim, to adapt by building stronger houses and learning safe evacuation methods. He had already been studying civil engineering at the time of Idai, but after surviving the cyclone, Mr Joaquim enrolled on a resilience construction course offered by a college called Young Africa.
They are learning how to build a roof that has been specifically designed to withstand the extreme winds and torrential rains that come with cyclones. "Because of the risk of the roof being blown away, we use metal fixtures to reinforce the roof," Mr Joaquim says. ""With these resilient construction techniques, we think it can resist at least the force of winds and heavy rains that we saw during Cyclone Idai. As part of his course, Mr Joaquim helped Young Africa build more than 130 houses across two sites, all designed to provide better protection during a strong cyclone.
These "resilient" homes were given to people who lost theirs during Cyclone Idai. Mr Joaquim is now putting those skills to use, offering his services to build houses for others in his community and for his own family. He showed me round his half-built house which he is hoping to complete before the next cyclone season. ""Me and my family will be safe.
A stronger house provides better shelter during a storm, but there are some areas around the coastal city of Beira which are so vulnerable that people need to evacuate when a strong cyclone is predicted. " Especially when cyclones appear suddenly, we're right there, in the community, working with them," says Liria Charomar in a bright orange T-shirt with a colourful wrap around her waist. I noticed a scar on her leg which she says she's had since they were evacuating people through high water during Cyclone Idai. ""The most intense winds come from the ocean, because the cyclones themselves come from the ocean but then there's a mangrove forest blocking the intensity of the wind.
"The residents of Beira are unhappy with this situation caused by other countries," says Ms Charoma. In the meantime, people in Beira will continue to do what they can to adapt to climate change, in the face of an uncertain future. "It's a good feeling knowing that I learned and I'm also passing on what I know to other people," says Mr Joaquim.
This article is republished from BBC by Nomsa Maseko. Click here to read the original article.
