Record temperatures in Zimbabwe amidst drought

This was behind a paywall in an Italian newspaper

Zimbabwe, temperatures reach 51 ° C: the Victoria Falls are dry

• The UNESCO heritage dried up by the most severe wave of drought in the last forty years.
• The economic and environmental damage is enormous. 
• Seven million people risk starving to death

SOME parts of the country experienced record-breaking high temperatures yesterday as the country came under the spell of a heat wave that is also expected to affect the country today, the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) has said.

MSD forecaster Mr James Ngoma yesterday said very hot temperatures were recorded in Nyanga, where they topped 38 degrees Celsius, up from the previous record of 32 degrees Celsius.

“Chisengu and Mutare recorded 39 degrees Celsius and 40 degrees Celsius, up from 37degrees Celsius and 39 degrees Celsius, respectively,” he said.

Kariba recorded the highest temperature of 42 degrees Celsius, Victoria Falls 40, Great Zimbabwe 29, Vumba 35, Harare 35, Bulawayo 35, Gweru 35, Mutare 40, Lupane, 42, Gwanda 41 and Marondera 39 degrees Celsius

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https://www.chronicle.co.zw/parts-of-zim-experience-record-high-temperatures/

The flow at the Africa’s biggest waterfall is at its lowest since 1995, highlighting the threat posed by a drought to tourism and electricity generation in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Flow has slumped to 109 cubic meters-per-second (3,850 cubic feet) at Victoria Falls, a 1.7-kilometer (1.1 mile) curtain of falling water at the peak of a normal wet season, according to the Zambezi River Authority. The falls on the Zambezi river straddle the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia and the flow of the watercourse fills the Kariba Dam, the site of the two countries’ largest power plants.

The drought threatens to deter tourists from visiting the site, could curtail a lucrative white-water rafting industry in the gorge below the cataract and may see the power plants at Kariba shut down, worsening power cuts in both countries. Elephants at nearby game parks are dying of hunger, further damaging the tourism industry.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-31/biggest-african-waterfall-at-24-year-low-imperils-tourism-power