World news round-up for 2019
Another notable year of extreme storms
The Atlantic hurricane season ended in November, with 18 named storms, of which six were hurricanes. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US, an average season consisted of 12 named storms, making 2019 the fourth consecutive above-average hurricane season.
The most destructive hurricane of the season was Dorian, which made landfall in the Bahamas in September. A Category 5 storm, Dorian came with winds of up to 185mph (298km/h). It killed more than 60 people, and resulted in billions of dollars’ worth of damage. It also caused more than US$1 billion (about R14,6 billion) damage in the US state of Northern Carolina. Farmers in this state said the strong winds caused by the hurricane resulted in severe crop damage. Subsequent flooding also damaged many soya bean, cotton and tobacco crops.
In the Southern Hemisphere, Cyclone Idai, which made landfall in March, was one of the worst tropical cyclones on record.
Beira in Mozambique was the most severely affected. of land received heavy rainfall as a result of the cyclone. In Mozambique alone, 360 000ha of crops and at least 17 000 houses were damaged due to flooding. The UN estimated that the total damage caused by Idai was around US$773 million (R11,3 billion).
