Cyclone Batsirai nears Madagascar

AMPASIPOTSY GARE, Madagascar: Cyclone Batsirai was expected to reach eastern Madagascar on Saturday, posing a “very serious threat” to millions with powerful winds and torrential rains set to batter the large Indian Ocean island.

Residents hunkered down before the storm’s arrival and winds of more than 200 kilometres per hour (124 miles per hour) were forecast as it bore down on the country still recovering from the deadly Tropical Storm Ana in late January.

After passing Mauritius and drenching the French island of La Reunion for two days with torrential rain, Batsirai was about 250 kilometres east of Madagascar early Saturday, the Meteo-France weather agency said.

Batsirai should make landfall between late afternoon and evening Saturday as an intense tropical cyclone, “presenting a very serious threat to the area”, the forecaster said in its morning bulletin Saturday.

The eye of the storm was forecast to cross the centre of the island overnight into Sunday, before leaving its western shores by Monday.

Winds could reach “more than 200 or even 250km/h... at the point of impact” and waves could reach as high as 15 metres (50 feet), Meteo-France said.

The United Nations (UN) 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.