from HANSLEY NABAB in Port Louis, Mauritius
Mauritius Bureau
PORT LOUIS, (CAJ News) – HEAVY rainfall is anticipated in Madagascar, Mayotte and Mozambique as Tropical Cyclone Chido tracks across the Indian Ocean.
Chido is “Treasure” or “Wish” in Shona, one of the most spoken languages in Southern Africa, a majority in Zimbabwe.
The cyclone made landfall in Agalega, Mauritius on Wednesday.
Waves reaching up to 8 metres are feared.
Chido was expected to briefly strengthen into an intense tropical cyclone as it tracks westward and then west-southwestward away from Agalega on Thursday, before weakening back into a tropical cyclone and making landfall over northern Diana region in Madagascar late Friday.
The system is likely to weaken into a severe tropical storm as it tracks south-westward across the Mozambique Channel on Friday and Saturday.
The storm is forecast to continue to weaken before making another landfall over Nampula province in northern Mozambique late this coming weekend.
The Mauritius Meteorological Services (MMS) has issued a special weather bulletin, warning that heavy rain, strong wind and a heavy swell were in force in Agalega.
Meteorological Madagascar has issued a yellow cyclone warning (the middle level on a three-tier scale) across the Diana region and Vohemar district in the Sava Region and green cyclone warnings for the rest of Sava and much of Sofia regions.
Yellow strong wind and heavy swell warnings are in place for northern coastal areas.
– CAJ News