It is a deluge that fell on Mauritius on Monday. The island was swept by rains during an intense tropical cyclone, named Freddy. By midday, the streets, swept by squalls, were practically deserted except in front of bakeries, where shoppers were making their last supplies before the cyclone hit around 17 p.m. local time (14 p.m. in Paris). At its closeest, it passed about 120 km north of Mauritius, said the Mauritian meteorological services (MMS), adding that at 22 hours local, "Freddy was centered about 240 km northwest of Mauritius".

Authorities have issued a Class 3 cyclone warning. A dozen storms or cyclones cross the southwest Indian Ocean each year during the hurricane season, which runs from November to April. In Reunion, where the cyclonic orange alert is still in force, the worst seems to be over.


Some dangerous videos have surfaced after #CycloneFreddy hit the country of #Mauritius 🌀🌪🌧 #cyclone #freddy pic.twitter.com/IDoe6gNeqx

— Weather of Gujarat (@Gujarat_weather) February 21, 2023

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"Improvement is taking shape quickly"

Cyclone Freddy has begun to move away from the French department and although the rains will continue Tuesday, "the improvement is emerging quickly," says Météo-France in its latest bulletin published on the night of Monday to Tuesday at 1:08 am Paris time (4:08 am in Reunion).

"Freddy is an intense and compact tropical cyclone that generates extreme winds near its center, but the cyclone's zone of influence remains small: few effects felt beyond 200 kilometers from the center," says Météo-France.

In Madagascar, further west, the National Bureau of Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC) announced in a statement that Freddy was expected from Tuesday evening "with winds around 175 km / h and gusts of 250 km / h at the time of impact". It warns of heavy rainfall, a "very large to huge sea" and a "significant risk of coastal flooding" and invites sea users not to go out because of the "cyclonic swells" generated by the hurricane.

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