Flights cancelled, bourse shut as intense cyclone Freddy nears Mauritius

Bloomberg

Mauritius’s only international airport and its stock exchange remained closed on Monday as tropical cyclone Freddy threatened the tourism-dependent island nation, according to statements from the respective operators.
The storm at the weekend strengthened to a very intense tropical cyclone, according to Meteo France, with wind gusts near its center of about 300 kilometers per hour, making it the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane. While the storm may not make a direct strike on the Indian Ocean island, it will bring damaging winds and heavy rains, the nation’s weather service said.
Air Mauritius cancelled flights to and from destinations including Paris, London and Johannesburg until Tuesday, the national carrier said.
The storm is forecast to hit the east coast of Madagascar, the world’s largest vanilla producer, on Tuesday night. The island nation, one of the poorest and most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, is recovering from tropical cyclone Cheneso that tore through from its northeastern coastline in January, killing 33 people and displacing another 34,000.
, according to the government.
After traversing Madagascar, Freddy will enter the Mozambican channel as a weakened tropical storm, according to Meteo France. But by February 24, it will strengthen to a severe storm and make landfall just south of Beira, the Mozambican port city that was severely damaged by cyclone Idai in 2019.
Rivers in central Mozambique are already above flood-alert levels after heavy rains in recent weeks.