SA Weather Service: Tropical Storm Ana Unlikely to Affect South Africa
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has assured the public a tropical storm which began rapidly intensifying over the ocean to the north-east of Madagascar is unlikely to affect South Africa
Washington Post reports Tropical storm Ana has caused widespread flooding in Madagascar, including in the capital city, raising the death toll from recent heavy rains to 34 people and displacing more than 55,000.
Ana has moved across the Indian Ocean to the African continent, causing strong winds and rain in northern Mozambique when it made landfall on Monday,
The weather service said the system began developing before the weekend and intensifying over the open ocean to the north-east of Madagascar, northwards of Mauritius and Reunion islands.
“Overnight, the system continued to intensify, reaching Moderate Tropical Storm intensity in the early hours of Monday morning, leading to the official naming on “Ana. The South African Weather Service would like to reassure the public at large that this particular system is not likely to directly affect South Africa at all in the coming days.”
The weather service said “ANA” has the potential to cause significant wind damage to coastal infrastructure along the Mozambican north coast including the risk of marine storm surge and localised flooding, due to torrential downpours which cannot be underestimated.
