Hurricane/Cyclone/Typhoon Journal Entry
Tropical Cyclone Hits Madagascar (January 30, 2008)
Satellite view of Tropical Cyclone Fame bearing down on Madagascar. NOAA.
Tropical Cyclone Fame is the latest storm to swirl out of the Indian Ocean and threaten Africa. The powerful cyclone slammed the big island of Madagascar this week.
The storm killed two people and triggered a new round of floods on the world's fourth largest island. Heavy damages were reported along the nation's west coast.
People across the Mozambique Channel in the water-logged nation of Mozambique breathed a big sigh of relief. At first, it looked like the cyclone was taking direct aim at the mainland. But it changed course and chugged to the southeast across Madagascar instead.
Mozambique and the rest of southern Africa are suffering through terrible seasonal floods that arrived early this year. Floods killed at least fifty people and displaced over 100,000 others as raging rivers overflowed their banks. The situation could get worse in the weeks ahead.
