Cape Town - The SA Weather Service (Saws) has warned that tropical cyclone Freddy is expected to re-intensify after making landfall in Madagascar on Tuesday.
This, as it was on course for southern Mozambique, and then north-eastern South Africa, including the lowveld and escarpment areas of Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
Madagascar's government suspended schooling and transport in the path of tropical cyclone Freddy, which caused a storm surge, ripping roofs off houses and killing at least one person.
Freddy made landfall along the eastern coastline of Madagascar, just north of Mananjary at around 7.30pm on Tuesday evening.
The relatively compact storm was a low-end category 2 tropical cyclone, Saws said, just before making landfall, with winds of 150 km/h and gusts of up to 180km/h.
“Freddy weakened significantly due to the rugged terrain it encountered and was downgraded to an overland depression during the evening.
“The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) designated Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC) located at La Reunion, forecasts that Freddy will continue in a west-south-westerly direction over the next few days, regaining its strength this evening as it moves into the Mozambique channel.
“Freddy may yet again reach near-tropical cyclone status by Thursday evening while heading to southern Mozambique, making landfall just north of Vilanculos during Friday morning,” said Saws.
According to the national forecasting centre, it is expected that Freddy will affect the north-eastern parts of South Africa from early Saturday until Monday (February 25 to 27), especially the lowveld and escarpment areas of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, as the weather system will be semi-stationary along the north-eastern border for a few days.
“Very heavy rainfall in the order of 200 to 400 mm is possible, and this may result in widespread significant flooding. The districts in question are Vhembe and Mopani in Limpopo, and to a slightly lesser extent, Ehlanzeni in Mpumalanga. This, after significant flooding occurred over the lowveld and escarpment areas (such as the Kruger National Park) the last few weeks, may be catastrophic and cause prolonged and severe impacts,” added Saws.
Meanwhile, a 27-year-old man drowned near the port of Mahanoro in Madagascar, the National Office of Risks and Disasters said.
This while more than 7 000 people had been preventively evacuated from the Vatovavy region, it said.
All traffic in cyclone Freddy's projected path was suspended overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, the Ministry of Transport and Meteorology said.
The Ministry of Education said it had suspended classes in at least 10 regions.
Madagascar is hit by an average of 1.5 cyclones every year, the highest in Africa, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
Cape Times