Early warning systems (EWS) have become the buzzword throughout the meteorology community across the world over the last three years.

With the United Nations (UN) spearheading a worldwide campaign for the protection of every person on earth from hazardous weather, water or climate events by the end of 2027, EWS have been identified as central to the success of Secretary-General Mr Antonio Guterres’s ambitious Early Warnings for All (EW4ALL) initiative.

According to the UN, EWS are a proven, efficient, and cost-effective way to save lives and jobs, land, and infrastructure, and support long-term sustainability.

The intergovernmental body shares further that EWS are urgently needed as climate change is causing more frequent and intense extreme weather events, resulting in widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people.

However, the success of EWS depends on society making a habit of regularly consulting trusted weather information sources to trigger actions that could save lives and property.

South Africa is a country prone to hazardous weather events. These include heavy rainfall, which tends to spawn floods and mudslides; severe thunderstorms, which sometimes come with damaging hail and tornadoes; snowfall, drought and heatwaves.

Experts predict that, with climate change continuing to take root, the severity of weather events on the continent will get worse with time.

This is all the more reason why communities, particularly the vulnerable, should follow a daily routine that includes staying abreast of developments on the weather front.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) disseminates daily weather forecasts, with updates throughout each day. This includes minimum and maximum weather temperatures and rainfall forecasts. Importantly, the SAWS, issues timeous Impact-Based Weather Warnings whenever the need arises.

A multi-pronged dissemination approach is relied upon, with a view to seeing to it that the information reaches far and wide and that not a single person is left out.

In addition to distributing the forecast and warnings through traditional media platforms, notably radio and television, the information is also circulated through social media, the SAWS website and its mobile application.

Moreover, the information is shared with intermediaries such as disaster management authorities and humanitarian organisations, both of whom are important players in the Disaster Risk Reduction value chain.

This begs the question, if so much effort is put into informing and warning communities about potentially dangerous weather events, how is it that some vulnerable people still find themselves in harm’s way or worse?

An appropriate example is that of the road travellers who were trapped on major routes in a heavy blanket of snow that had fallen over the western and southern parts of KwaZulu-Natal, the eastern Free State and the southern Highveld as well as the escarpment of Mpumalanga, among other areas, last September.

The SAWS had issued a media release three days in advance, drawing the attention of the public to the expected disruptive snow of between 15cm and 30cm over parts of the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and Mpumalanga.

The entity had said at the time that the snowfall was likely to result in the closure of mountain passes, loss of livestock and crops, and affect major traffic routes including parts of the N3, N5 and N11.

The media release was followed by several severe weather warnings.

Television news channels and radio stations broadcast the information extensively.

The dangers the SAWS had warned about came to pass. Lives were endangered, driving in the affected areas became impossible, and some travellers were cut off from the rest of the country. At least one person was reported dead due to exposure to extremely cold conditions.

The news stories from this tragic event went viral such that many thought communities were going to draw important lessons from the experience, prompting a behavioural change. Sadly, several other weather-related disasters that have since followed have shown that we have a long way to go.

For its part, SAWS carries out an elaborate public education and awareness programme, which includes own-initiative mass events and piggybacking on other governmental events to equip vulnerable communities with information that could save lives and property. The entity also runs a quarterly community radio programme targeted at vulnerable communities. On such occasions, disaster management authorities, municipal emergency services, and humanitarian bodies such as the Red Cross are brought on board for an impactful collaboration.

The needle is moving but not nearly fast enough. If we are to shield everyone in the country from hazardous weather events in two years, society would do well to stay informed, alert and heedful of severe weather warnings at all times.

*Segalwe is Senior Manager: Communication and Stakeholder Relations at the South African Weather Service