Cat 4 Cyclone Enawo a rare behemoth for Madagascar
UPDATE 3/8/17: The Associated Press says:
Trees are lashed by strong winds in Sambava, Madagascar Tuesday, March 7, 2017 as heavy rains and strong winds from a cyclone hit northeast Madagascar, raising concerns about flooding and landslides. Aid workers were on alert as Cyclone Enawo lashed the coastline. The storm was expected to move south through the island nation for several days, affecting the capital of Antananarivo along the way. (AP Photo/Manny Horsford)
Cyclone Enawo hit northeast Madagascar as a major, Category 4 hurricane this morning (the graphic below shows it just after landfall; it has since moved inland and been downgraded to a Category 2).
A major hurricane hasn't hit this part of Madagascar since Category 3 Indlala came ashore in 2007 (Category 4 Ivan hit further south in 2008, and Category 4 Giovanna even further south in 2012). In fact, only 6 major hurricanes have made landfall in the modern era (since 2000).
The image below shows all cyclones that were of major hurricane (Cat 3-5) strength near Madagascar since the year 2000. This is what Enawo looked like as he made landfall:
The only other modern-era hurricane-force cyclone to have traversed Enawo's expected path (over the length of the island) was Indlala, ten years ago. That storm killed between 150 and 175 people. Cyclone Gafilo, however, became the worst storm to ever hit the island nation in 2004 when it killed between 237-413 people and caused a staggering $2.5 billion in damage.
Enawo is expected to bring over 300 mm (1 foot) of rain to the eastern part of Madagascar.
