Severe Tropical Storm Freddy continues its journey towards the African coast after getting dangerously close to the Big Island. Morombe, Toliara I-II and Betioky are on red alert.
“The heavy rain warning notices and strong swell warning notices are maintained for the regions concerned. The cloud masses that are accompanied by cyclone Freddy have a significant impact on the southwestern regions of the country “. This is announced in the special bulletin published by the General Directorate of Weather at 4 p.m. local time yesterday. According to forecasts, the system has a west-southwest trajectory moving away from the Malagasy coasts with a speed of 5 km/h. A gain in speed compared to previous forecasts if we stick to the general direction of the weather. If the system is moving in the opposite direction of the Big Island, the accompanying clouds are mainly located offshore. The strong winds caused by the presence of cloud clusters are impacting the southwestern regions of the island. Forecasts published yesterday suggest that the system is more or less stable with winds around 90/h and gusts of 125 km/h. Side impact on the weather in Madagascar, heavy rainfall (50 to 90 mm) will be expected in several regions of the country, advances the weather service. The yellow alert notice is thus decreed for the Androy, Anosy, Atsimo-Atsinanana, Ihorombe, Melaky and Boeny regions.
Unpublished
The fact that Severe Tropical Storm Freddy is special is a fact. With nearly 11,000 km traveled and more than 19 days of life, the system would currently find in the Mozambique Channel the ideal conditions to maintain its activity according to the explanations of a reliable source. ” The strength of a cyclone depends on the temperature of the ocean. However, it is hot in the Mozambique Channel. Which is an ideal condition for cyclonic activities “, notes our source. Freddy’s back and forth in the Mozambique Channel would make Malagasy forecasters dizzy, who could at the same time be fascinated by this rarely observed system.
Losses
The provisional assessment published by the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management is getting heavier. The list of human losses is growing with, currently, four deaths recorded in Andranovory, Morombe and Bekily. The document published yesterday also suggests that the number of victims amounts to 15,281, or 3,622 households spread over three (3) regions of the country: Atsimo-Andrefana, Androy and Menabe. The number of displaced persons, meanwhile, being 3,164, or 738 households, dispatched to eight (8) accommodation sites in Toliara I-II, Mahabo, Manja and Morombe. Another 7,794 people would also be displaced among their neighbours. In terms of material damage, the strong tropical storm caused the destruction of 618 huts and the flooding of 2,695 others.
José Belalahy
The Cyclone Alert article: Freddy moves away leaving 4 deaths in Madagascar including a two-year-old child appeared first on Midi Madagasikara.
