The Fort Worth Press - Cyclone Batsirai approaches Madagascar, poses 'very serious threat'

USD -
AED 3.67297
AFN 70.029223
ALL 94.705272
AMD 395.374322
ANG 1.801726
AOA 912.000086
ARS 1025.740196
AUD 1.604711
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.695038
BAM 1.880071
BBD 2.018591
BDT 119.467836
BGN 1.88121
BHD 0.377231
BIF 2955.742685
BMD 1
BND 1.35675
BOB 6.923136
BRL 6.192605
BSD 0.999731
BTN 85.143423
BWP 13.828008
BYN 3.271235
BYR 19600
BZD 2.010613
CAD 1.44081
CDF 2870.00019
CHF 0.90021
CLF 0.035813
CLP 988.209727
CNY 7.296905
CNH 7.300525
COP 4412
CRC 507.651786
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 105.995501
CZK 24.174498
DJF 178.028992
DKK 7.176298
DOP 60.656746
DZD 135.220885
EGP 50.8989
ERN 15
ETB 127.263814
EUR 0.961904
FJD 2.32025
FKP 0.791982
GBP 0.797905
GEL 2.809608
GGP 0.791982
GHS 14.696043
GIP 0.791982
GMD 72.000244
GNF 8637.097704
GTQ 7.702734
GYD 209.155227
HKD 7.76729
HNL 25.394125
HRK 7.172906
HTG 130.72442
HUF 395.741497
IDR 16213.05
ILS 3.672355
IMP 0.791982
INR 85.170495
IQD 1309.647403
IRR 42087.504833
ISK 139.580163
JEP 0.791982
JMD 156.063752
JOD 0.709304
JPY 157.106499
KES 129.250212
KGS 86.999779
KHR 4009.497443
KMF 466.124961
KPW 899.999441
KRW 1459.054984
KWD 0.30817
KYD 0.833141
KZT 521.523051
LAK 21876.802399
LBP 89525.896874
LKR 296.016457
LRD 181.951013
LSL 18.423405
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.909255
MAD 10.05835
MDL 18.40466
MGA 4713.154151
MKD 59.146426
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.99987
MOP 8.000827
MRU 39.809474
MUR 47.069884
MVR 15.397537
MWK 1733.571731
MXN 20.15004
MYR 4.487015
MZN 63.903729
NAD 18.423405
NGN 1547.870207
NIO 36.788172
NOK 11.401202
NPR 136.229669
NZD 1.774277
OMR 0.385009
PAB 0.999731
PEN 3.728996
PGK 4.055639
PHP 58.478982
PKR 278.550006
PLN 4.110097
PYG 7804.629523
QAR 3.644692
RON 4.785298
RSD 112.518997
RUB 100.003367
RWF 1384.627216
SAR 3.754427
SBD 8.383555
SCR 14.279738
SDG 601.498393
SEK 11.09127
SGD 1.359415
SHP 0.791982
SLE 22.799143
SLL 20969.503029
SOS 571.384627
SRD 35.123027
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.747645
SYP 2512.530243
SZL 18.418118
THB 34.151983
TJS 10.922059
TMT 3.51
TND 3.18395
TOP 2.342104
TRY 35.253665
TTD 6.790479
TWD 32.683798
TZS 2420.00021
UAH 42.019456
UGX 3674.010843
UYU 44.728342
UZS 12898.450417
VES 51.575066
VND 25440
VUV 118.722003
WST 2.762788
XAF 630.558119
XAG 0.033912
XAU 0.000382
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.766428
XOF 630.558119
XPF 114.642212
YER 250.374995
ZAR 18.62185
ZMK 9001.191881
ZMW 27.667551
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    -0.7000

    59.8

    -1.17%

  • NGG

    0.5200

    59.02

    +0.88%

  • CMSC

    0.0420

    23.902

    +0.18%

  • GSK

    0.4600

    34.06

    +1.35%

  • SCS

    -0.0900

    11.65

    -0.77%

  • BTI

    -0.0200

    36.22

    -0.06%

  • CMSD

    -0.0100

    23.55

    -0.04%

  • BCC

    -0.5100

    122.24

    -0.42%

  • RIO

    0.5900

    59.23

    +1%

  • BP

    0.1500

    28.75

    +0.52%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0200

    7.25

    -0.28%

  • RELX

    0.1200

    45.59

    +0.26%

  • BCE

    -0.3200

    22.84

    -1.4%

  • VOD

    -0.0200

    8.37

    -0.24%

  • AZN

    1.2800

    66.63

    +1.92%

  • JRI

    0.0400

    12.1

    +0.33%

Cyclone Batsirai approaches Madagascar, poses 'very serious threat'
Cyclone Batsirai approaches Madagascar, poses 'very serious threat'

Cyclone Batsirai approaches Madagascar, poses 'very serious threat'

Madagascar braced up for Cyclone Batsirai set to hit the eastern parts of the Indian Ocean island on Saturday, with powerful winds and torrential rains posing a "very serious threat" to millions.

Text size:

Residents hunkered down before the storm makes landfall in an impoverished country still recovering from the deadly Tropical Storm Ana in late January.

The Meteo-France weather service warned of winds of up to 260 kilometres per hour (162 miles per hour) and waves as high as 15 metres (50 feet).

It said Batsirai would likely make landfall Saturday afternoon as an intense tropical cyclone, "presenting a very serious threat to the area" after passing Mauritius and drenching the French island of La Reunion for two days with torrential rain.

Residents in the eastern coastal town of Vatomandry were stockpiling supplies in preparation for the storm.

"We have been stocking up for a week, rice but also grains because with the electricity cuts we can not keep meat or fish," said Odette Nirina, 65, a hotelier in the seafront town of Vatomandry.

"I have also stocked up on coal. Here we are used to cyclones," she told AFP.

Gusts of winds of more than 50km/h were pummelling Vatomandry town Saturday morning accompanied by intermittent rain.

Residents have reinforced corrugated iron roofs with sandbags.

- 'We are very nervous' -

The United Nations said it was ramping up its preparedness with aid agencies, placing rescue aircraft on standby and stockpiling humanitarian supplies.

The impact of Batsirai on Madagascar is expected to be "considerable", Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN's humanitarian organisation OCHA, told reporters in Geneva Friday.

At least 131,000 people were affected by Ana across Madagascar in late January. At least 58 people were killed, mostly in the capital Antananarivo. The storm also hit Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, causing dozens of deaths.

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) pointed to estimates from national authorities that some 595,000 people could risk being directly affected by Batsirai, and 150,000 more might be displaced due to new landslides and flooding.

"We are very nervous," Pasqualina Di Sirio, who heads the WFP's programme in Madagascar, told reporters by video-link from the Indian Ocean island.

Search and rescue teams on the island have been placed on alert and residents reinforced their homes.

Inland in Ampasipotsy Gare, sitting on top of his house, Tsarafidy Ben Ali, a 23-year-old coal seller, held down corrugated iron sheets on the roof with large bags filled with soil.

"The gusts of wind are going to be very strong. That's why we're reinforcing the roofs," he told AFP.

The storm poses a risk to at least 4.4 million people in one way or another, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

burs-str-sn/cb

H.M.Hernandez--TFWP