In Pambara One and Pambara Two, two communities
situated near the town of Vilankulo in Inhambane
province, committee members explained how they heard
the cyclone warning on the radio and developed a plan
to alert the community. When sceptical members of the
community did not believe the initial warnings about
the approaching cyclone, and questioned the source of
the weather forecast, local disaster committee members
followed practical recommendations outlined in
information materials provided through the communitybased
disaster preparedness programme.
The community was organized into groups of ten people
and a committee member brought a radio to each group
to listen to the official government alert. The committee
repeated this activity for three consecutive days prior to
the cyclone (following the cyclone alert colour code
system), convincing the community of the approaching
cyclone and advising the population to reinforce their
houses and to keep their children safe at home.
Mozambique Red Cross Society volunteers were also
active, visiting local schools and communities before the
cyclone hit to warn parents and teachers to keep their
children at home. HF radios provided to each
Mozambique Red Cross Society district branch through
the community-based disaster preparedness programme
ensured communication and coordination between
Mozambique Red Cross Society staff and volunteers and
was a significant improvement on previous disaster
preparedness and response operations, where
communication was unreliable.