The Influence of Major Climatic Elements on the Devastated Geo-Hydrological Disasters: A Case of Hanang Disaster of 3rd December 2023 in Tanzania

Changes in major climatic elements such as temperature, precipitation and wind distribution have triggered weather-related and geophysical disasters. In recent years, the globe has experienced an increased number of floods and landslide events which are said to be the most common among other natural disasters. This study examines the influence of climatic elements on the geo-hydrological disaster which occurred in Hanang district-Tanzania on 3rd December 2023. The study used the primary data collected from 182 respondents. Also, the trend analysis (1981-2023) was conducted using average rainfall from 7 meteorological stations in the study area. Annual and seasonal rainfall as well as a number of rainy days were analyzed. The calculated rainfall data were then used to compute the dimensions of the standardized precipitation anomalies (SPA) which is designated as SPA = (P − P*)/σp. Besides, the temperature was analysed to investigate its trend and trend anomaly. Also, the wind rose statistics for the annual, March to May (MAM) and October to December (OND) for the climatology period of 1991-2020 were analysed so as to examine its contribution to rainfall distribution in Hanang district. The examination of annual rainfall data indicates an upward trend in precipitation levels, accompanied by notable variability in rainfall patterns, including seasonal anomalies and deviations from historical averages. The combination of elevated rainfall, anomalies in rainfall patterns, and potentially unfavourable terrain characteristics may have contributed to devastated geo-hydrological disaster risk. However, future research is recommended that could focus on integrating rainfall and temperature data with comprehensive geo-hydrological susceptibility assessments, considering factors such as terrain stability, land cover and land use practices.