11.2 µm - IR Longwave Window Band - 2 km resolution - the traditional longwave infrared window band, is used to diagnose discrete clouds and organized features for general weather forecasting, analysis, and broadcasting applications. Observations from this IR window channel characterize atmospheric processes associated with extratropical cyclones and also in single thunderstorms and convective complexes.
This color enhancement is known as the "Dvorak Hurricane Curve for Tropical Cyclone Classification", and is used in the tropical cyclone forecasting and research communities to visualize storm intensity.
Internet Cyclone 2.14
Tropical Cyclone Eloise, a category 2 storm, made landfall in the first hours of 23 January 2021, 20km south of the Beira City in Sofala Province, bringing winds of 140km/h and wind gusts of over 160km/h as well as extreme and widespread rainfall in Beira, 250mm in 24h, and many districts in Sofala, southern Manica, northern Inhambane, Zambezia and eastern Gaza. The areas were already experiencing significant flooding as a result of heavy rainfall on 15 January 2021. The discharge of water from Chicamba dam and the Mavuzi reservoir had also affected residents in the district of Búzi. The same areas were also affected by tropical storm Chalane on 30 December 2020, resulting in thousands of displaced people. These areas were still recovering from cyclone Idai and 2020 floods.
Búzi, Nhamantanda and Beira were some of the districts most affected. At least 11 people died due to Cyclone Eloise and many were injured. The cyclone caused severe flooding in the same areas that were just recovering from Cyclone Idai in 2019. Sofala, Manica, Zambezia and Inhambane are the provinces most directly affected by cyclones. They also have the highest vulnerabilities as a result of slow and interrupted recovery processes due to recurrent disasters.
Sofala Province was the most affected and Búzi District was the epicentre of the Cyclone and was heavily affected by post-cyclone flooding, especially for communities along the Pungwe and Búzi Rivers. There were significant damages to homes, water and sanitation infrastructure across the district.
This was a 35% increase from Cyclone Idai, as people continue to recover 2 years after the category 4 storm. On the day before Cyclone Eloise struck the central region of Mozambique, the volunteers spread early warning messages through megaphones and sound systems on cars. Immediately after the cyclone struck volunteers were activated in the accommodation centres and neighbourhoods affected. These volunteers were trained and equipped after cyclone Idai on Community Based-Health and First Aid. The volunteers have done sensibilization on disease prevention on waterborne diseases, malaria and COVID-19. The volunteers provide psychosocial support to the victims of cyclone Eloise. Moreover, they conducted hygiene promotion activities and household water treatment. As the volunteers were already trained and equipped it was possible to provide an adequate and fast response.
By April 2021 CVM and IFRC distributed shelter kits to the majority of families in Búzi, Sussendega and Nhamatanda. Whenever kits were distributed, CVM volunteers gave trainings on how to assemble them and instruction in Build Back Safer techniques. The most vulnerable persons received assistance to assemble their kits and improve their shelters. CVM and IFRC helped communities plan to be more resilient in the future, through coordination with community leaders, local government, and the disaster management sector. Plans are being set to help communities prepare before the 2021/22 cyclone season, expected to start in November. There are plans to establish disaster management committees in vulnerable communities to allow them to make specific contingency plans for common disasters such as floods and cyclones.
In Africa, tropical cyclones can originate from tropical waves generated over the Sahara Desert, or otherwise strike the Horn of Africa and Southern Africa. Cyclone Idai in March 2019 hit central Mozambique, becoming the deadliest tropical cyclone on record in Africa, with 1,302 fatalities, and damage estimated at US$2.2 billion.[nb 1] Réunion island, located east of Southern Africa, experiences some of the wettest tropical cyclones on record. In January 1980, Cyclone Hyacinthe produced 6,083 mm (239.5 in) of rain over 15 days, which was the largest rain total recorded from a tropical cyclone on record. In Asia, tropical cyclones from the Indian and Pacific oceans regularly affect some of the most populated countries on Earth. In 1970, a cyclone struck Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan, producing a 6.1 m (20 ft) storm surge that killed at least 300,000 people; this made it the deadliest tropical cyclone on record. In October 2019, Typhoon Hagibis struck the Japanese island of Honshu and inflicted US$15 billion in damage, making it the costliest storm on record in Japan. The islands that comprise Oceania, from Australia to French Polynesia, are routinely affected by tropical cyclones. In Indonesia, a cyclone struck the island of Flores in April 1973, killing 1,653 people, making it the deadliest tropical cyclone recorded in the Southern Hemisphere.
Traditionally, tropical cyclones form in seven basins. These include the north Atlantic Ocean, the eastern and western parts of the northern Pacific Ocean, the southwestern Pacific, the southwestern and southeastern Indian Oceans, and the northern Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal). The western Pacific is the most active and the north Indian the least active. An average of 86 tropical cyclones of tropical storm intensity form annually worldwide, with 47 reaching hurricane/typhoon strength, and 20 becoming intense tropical cyclones, super typhoons, or major hurricanes (at least of Category 3 intensity).[1] Scientists initially believed that there were no South Atlantic tropical cyclones,[2] an assertion proved false in 2004 when Cyclone Catarina struck southeastern Brazil.[3] Occasionally, there are tropical-like cyclones in the Mediterranean Sea.[4]
In November 2013, a deep depression struck Somalia and killed 162 people while also causing extensive livestock damage.[7][8][9] In 2018, Cyclone Sagar traversed the Gulf of Aden and made landfall on Lughaya in northwestern Somaliland with winds of 75 km/h (45 mph).[10] Sagar killed 53 in Somalia, 2 in Djibouti, and 23 in eastern Ethiopia.[11][12][13][14][15] In 2020, Cyclone Gati became the strongest landfalling cyclone in the Horn of Africa on record, making landfall in Somalia near Hafun with winds of 170 km/h (105 mph).[16] Gati killed at least 9 people in Somalia.[17]
In April 1952, a cyclone moved ashore southeastern Tanzania near Lindi with maximum sustained winds estimated at 180 km/h (110 mph); this made the cyclone the strongest on record to strike the country.[19] The cyclone left 34 fatalities in Tanzania.[20] In January 1984, Tropical Storm Domoina struck southern Mozambique and later crossed into eastern South Africa. The storm killed 109 people in Mozambique, 73 people in Eswatini, and 60 people in South Africa.[21][22][23]
The archipelago of the Comoros and the French overseas territory of Mayotte are located in the southern Indian Ocean in the Mozambique Channel. Due to their low latitude, the islands are rarely affected by tropical cyclones.[30] In January 1983, Cyclone Elinah moved through the Comoros with winds of at least 136 km/h (85 mph). High waves killed 33 people and left US$23.1 million in damage.[21][30] In April 2019, Cyclone Kenneth produced wind gusts of around 200 km/h (125 mph), along with 10 m (32 ft) waves. Kenneth killed nine people and destroyed 4,482 homes, while damaging another 7,013.[30] Damage was estimated at CF81.7 billion (US$188 million), equivalent to 16% of the country's GDP.[31][32]
In April 1892, a late-season cyclone impacted Mauritius, leaving 1,200 fatalities and causing $9.75 million (1892 USD, $277 million 2020 USD) in damage; this was the deadliest cyclone to affect the region in recorded history.[34][35] In February 1975, Cyclone Gervaise made landfall on Mauritius, producing the highest wind gust recorded on the island of 280 km/h (170 mph) at Mon Desert.[36] Damage was estimated at US$200 million, and 10 people died as a result of the storm.[21] In 1994, Cyclone Hollanda passed near Mauritius, leaving US$135 million in damage.[37] Severe Tropical Storm Monique passed just northwest of Rodrigues in 1968, producing a pressure of 933 millibars (27.55 inHg) on the island.[36] Combined with a previous tropical cyclone that affected the island earlier that year, Cyclone Carmen, the storms caused at least US$5 million in damage.[21]
The costliest tropical cyclone on record in Réunion was Cyclone Dina, which caused $190 million (2002 USD) in damage on the island, in addition to $97 million in Mauritius.[38][39] Dina also produced the highest wind gust recorded on Réunion, at 277 km/h (172 mph).[38] The storm indirectly killed 10 people; 6 in Réunion and 4 in Mauritius.[40][41] In January 1948, a tropical cyclone struck Réunion, causing 165 deaths; this is the deadliest tropical cyclone on record on the island.[42]
Some of the wettest tropical cyclones on record have impacted Réunion, including the wettest tropical cyclone of all time, Cyclone Hyacinthe.[43][44] In January 1980, Hyacinthe took an erratic track near the island, resulting in torrential rain falling across almost all of the island; nearly the entire island received over 1 m (3.3 ft) of rain.[45] At Commerson Crater, Hyacinthe dropped 6,083 mm (239.5 in) of rain, the largest rain total recorded from a tropical cyclone on record.[46][47] Overall, Hyacinthe caused $167 million (1980 USD) in damage, and killed 25 people.[45][21] Other record-breaking rainfall events caused by tropical cyclones in Réunion include Cyclone Denise, which dropped 1,144 mm (45.0 in) of rain in 12 hours and 1,825 mm (71.9 in) in 24 hours at Foc Foc; an unnamed tropical cyclone in 1958 caused 2,467 mm (97.1 in) of rain to fall at Aurere; and Cyclone Gamede dropped 3,929 mm (154.6 in) of rain at Commerson Crater.[48] Gamede caused an estimated $120 million (2007 USD) in damage in Réunion, and killed 4 people overall in the Mascarene Islands.[49][50][51] 2ff7e9595c
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