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Cyclone GafiloFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cyclone Gafilo was a powerful tropical cyclone which struck Madagascar in March 2004, causing devastating damage. It is the most intense cyclone ever to form in the south-western Indian Ocean.
Meteorological history
Gafilo began as a tropical disturbance on February 29, 2004 in the central Indian Ocean, south of Diego Garcia. First advisories for Tropical Disturbance 09 were issued on March 2 by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Center on La Réunion and Joint Typhoon Warning Center. At this point, it was moving to west-northwest at fairly rapid pace. Development became quicker, and next day it was named Tropical Storm Gafilo. Its forward motion also slowed, and it began to turn southwards. On March 4, Gafilo was upgraded to tropical cyclone. Next day, March 5, Gafilo began a cycle of rapid deepening with winds increasing to 145 mph (230 km/h) making it a Category 4 cyclone. It was now moving west-southwest heading straight for Madagascar. The next day, March 6, 2004 saw it reach its estimated peak intensity of 895 hPa and sustained windspeed of 160 mph (260 km/h). After midnight, Gafilo struck the northeast coast of Madagascar near to the town of Antalaha as a Category 5 cyclone, the highest possible rating. After landfall, Gafilo continued its track to southwest, and emerged into the Mozambique Channel still at Category 1 strength. The storm then weakened as it turned southeast and made a second landfall at southwest Madagascar as a strong tropical storm. Gafilo dissipated on March 11 over southern Madagascar, with remnant low emerging over the ocean, but hostile conditions prevented regeneration. Impact
At least 363 people were killed by the cyclone, with over 200,000 left homeless. Damage totaled $250 million (2004 USD).[1] The greatest single loss of life came on March 7 when the ferry 'Le Samson' sank in heavy seas off Comoros carrying 112 people; only three survived; the third one has been found 5 days later amidst at least 16 dead bodies.[2] The storm also caused significant crop losses, with Cyclone Elita hitting Madagascar just little over a month earlier, strain to the economy of the country was considerable. AftermathFollowing the passage of the storm, the Malagasy government passed Inter-ministerial Order 17939/2004 in September 2004,[1] which cleared the way for export of new and existing stocks of rosewood as "salvage." This created anarchy in the national parks in the SAVA Region, with loggers extracting a large amounts of rosewood and ebony, grossly disproportionate to the amount of damage caused by the cyclone.[2] During this time, Marojejy National Park reported that with the granting of export rights, logging in the park had resumed.[3] It wasn't until 2006, with the passing of Inter-ministerial Order 16030/2006, that the export ban was reinstated, nearly two years after the storm, but not before the exporters lobbied the government for an extension "following the grievances expressed by operators" in October 2005, per Memorandum 923/05.[2][4] Exports were also authorized following cyclones in 2006 and 2007, encouraging the stockpiling of large quantities of lumber in both legal depots and hidden caches around the ports of Vohémar and Antalaha.[4] See alsoExternal linksReferences
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