Cyclone Dineo
South-West Indian Ocean tropical cyclone in 2017
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The origins of Dineo can be tracked back to a cluster of thunderstorms that organized into an area of low pressure in the Mozambique Channel on 11 February. Over the next two days, the system gradually drifted in a generally southern track as it gained intensity and prompted the JTWC to issue a TCFA. On 13 February, RSMC La Réunion declared that a Tropical Disturbance had formed in the area and began issuing advisories. Located in a very favorable environment, the depression quickly increased in intensity and both the RSMC and JTWC noted winds of at least 65 km/h (40 mph) later that day, with the RSMC subsequently naming the storm Dineo. Dineo intensified to a tropical cyclone later on. It reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h) and a low barometric pressure of 955 hPa (mbar); 28.20 inHg on 15 February. Dineo made landfall on the coast of Mozambique, and it started weakening after landfall on the same day. On 17 February after making landfall, the JTWC issued the final advisory on Dineo. Dineo later dissipated after a few hours on the same day.
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Impact
Dineo struck Mozambique on 15 February as a tropical cyclone, bringing torrential rain and damaging winds. Dineo was the first tropical cyclone to hit Mozambique since Cyclone Jokwe in 2008. Satellite-derived estimates indicated up to 200 mm (7.9 in) of rain fell in Inhambane. At least seven people were killed across the country, including a child crushed by a fallen tree in Massinga. An estimated 20,000 homes were destroyed and approximately 130,000 people were directly affected. Widespread flooding took place in Zimbabwe, with Mutare, Chiredzi, and Beitbridge particularly hard-hit. At least 271 people were killed by the storm and damage exceeded US$200 million. The storm's remnants triggered destructive floods in Botswana. In the month following the storm, a cholera outbreak in Mozambique and Malawi infected more than 1,200 people and claimed 2 lives.