Cyclones are on the attack in the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. One person was killed in Fiji and one was missing as tropical cyclone Sarai battered the country with strong wind and heavy rain today and contrary to what was expected by the national weather service.
The Fiji National Disaster Management Office said one person was in intensive care and more than 2,500 people had been moved to 70 evacuation centers.
The cyclone was moving east at nearly 10 km/h and was expected to move into Tongan waters on Tuesday.
The Tonga Meteorological Service issued heavy rain and flash flood warning for the entire country.
In the meantime in the Indian Ocean, Mauritius is bracing for Cyclone Calvinia. A category 3 warning was issued at 9 am local time prompting cancellations of all flights in and out of Mauritius.
Due to the New Year season hotels are booked with tourists.
Authorities issued this alert for Mauritius: “Over the last few hours, the severe tropical storm has remained almost stationary at about 120 km to the east of Mahebourg near the point of 20.7 degrees south and 58.5 degrees east. It continues to intensify and a movement towards the west will bring the center closer to Mauritius.
Cyclonic conditions, that is wind gusts of the order of 120 km/h, may occur over Mauritius by the early afternoon.
Active cloud bands associated with CALVINIA will continue to influence the weather over Mauritius.
The weather will be rainy. The rain will be moderate to heavy at times with thunderstorms. There will be a localised accumulation of water and flooding. The public in Mauritius is advised to complete all precautions. The sea will be high. Venture at sea is strictly not advised.
A local tweet is reporting on fights at a bakery: The tweet says: “Be safe people but most importantly BE KIND and look out for the elderly and animals! Seeing fights at the bakery. Air Mauritius will issue a communique for remaining operations in due course, but the airlines’ website seems to have outdated information showing flights leaving Monday afternoon.
According to eTN sources, the category 3 warning came unexpectedly causing a traffic nightmare for the island nation. People left for work in the morning only expecting category 2 conditions. When the higher warning was announced ten thousand got on the road to go home.
Mauritius has a safe infrastructure for Cyclones. It includes expected safe structures, also for hotels and resorts.
The Rapid Response system by the African Tourism Board is on standby and informed the Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management
