Mauritius grounds flights as Cyclone Freddy bears down on island

MAURITIUS has grounded flights and shut its Stock Exchange as Cyclone Freddy approaches, posing a “direct threat” to the Indian Ocean island.

Meteo France has described Cyclone Freddy as a “particularly powerful and compact tropical system, generating extreme winds near its centre.”

A Class III cyclone warning is in force, allowing about six hours of daylight before the occurrence of wind gusts of 120km per hour.

Last week, the Met said the country was safe from tropical storms, Freddy and Dingani, which are intensifying in the Indian Ocean.

The department’s agrometeorologist and long-range forecaster, Benjamin Kwenda, said the two tropical storms pose no direct risk or threat to Zimbabwe at the moment.

“Zimbabwe is still safe for now. The cyclones are still very far away. There is no need to mention them yet.

“We are monitoring developments in the Indian Ocean basin to see if there is anything that could possibly affect us.

“Presently, there is nothing that could be a cause for concern,” he said.

Mauritius, along with other Indian Ocean countries like Madagascar, is regularly affected by severe storms and cyclones capable of destroying homes, infrastructure and crops.

Its weather service said in a bulletin issued at 6am warning that at its closest distance, Freddy may pass at about 120 km (75 miles) to the north-northwest of the island late in the afternoon, saying it represented a direct threat.

“As Freddy approaches Mauritius, a storm surge is likely to cause coastal inundation in risk areas. It is, therefore, strictly advised not to go at sea,” the bulletin said.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre warned that “heavy rainfall, storm surge, rough seas, mudslides, and flash flooding are all possible risks” of      Freddy.

Its latest update, issued on Monday morning, said: “Freddy is located 420 km east-northeast of Port Louis, Mauritius, and has moved west-southwestward at 31 km/h (17 knots) over the past six hours.

“No major changes in the track are anticipated, as the system traverses west-southwestward along the northern side of strong subtropical ridge to the south.

“Freddy is forecast to pass about 60-95 nautical miles north of both Mauritius and La Reunion, within the next 24 hours before making landfall along the south-central coast of Madagascar in around 40 hours.”

Freddy’s interaction with the elevation of land will mean it weakens on arrival, with winds falling to around 50mph by the time it hits the west of Madagascar, though it is expected to regain momentum as crosses open water once again, heading towards Africa.

Madagascar’s General Directorate of Meteorology has issued alerts for the Analanjirofo and Sava regions warning residents to take preventive measures before Freddy makes landfall between Tuesday and Wednesday next week on the country’s east coast.

The mainland African coastal nations of Mozambique and South Africa, alongside Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, are on high alert for heavy rains and thunderstorms from Freddy in the coming week. – innews.co.uk/H-Metro Reporter.