In view of increasing cyclonic activity in the Indian Ocean, nations in southern Africa should prepare well for flood-related disasters. This paper critically examined the level of preparedness of the government of Zimbabwe to cyclonic disasters using the country’s three most disastrous cyclones during the past two decades: (a) Cyclone Eline of 2000, (b) Cyclone Dineo of 2017 and (c) Cyclone Idai of 2019. In-depth qualitative interviews, post-disaster lessons learned workshops and a review of disaster policies provided data on five key preparedness measures: (a) prepositioning of resources, (b) early warnings, (c) evacuation, (d) citizen participation and (e) effective response. The findings demonstrate that the government of Zimbabwe remains in the disaster-response-disaster cycle instead of a proactive preventive approach to cyclones. Limited financial and material resources constrain effective preparedness to disasters. These problems stem from a weak legislation governing disaster risk reduction. This study therefore proposes five-policy implications for effective disaster preparedness.

鉴于印度洋气旋活动的增加，南部非洲国家应为与洪水有关的灾难做好准备。本文使用过去20年中该国最严重的三场飓风，对津巴布韦政府对飓风灾害的准备水平进行了严格审查：（a）2000年的埃琳飓风，（b）2017年的迪尼诺飓风和（c）艾达飓风2019年。深入的定性访谈，灾难后的经验教训讲习班和灾难政策审查提供了五项关键备灾措施的数据：（a）资源配置，（b）预警，（c）疏散，（d）公民参与和（e）有效回应。调查结果表明，津巴布韦政府仍处在灾难响应-灾难周期中，而不是对飓风采取积极的预防措施。有限的财力和物力限制了灾难的有效准备。这些问题源于有关减少灾害风险的法规薄弱。因此，本研究提出了有效防灾的五种政策含义。