Cyclone Gafilo

Cyclone Gafilo at its peak intensity.
Duration	March 3 - 11, 2004
Highest winds	160 mph (260 km/hr) sustained
Damages	Unknown
Fatalities	250 direct
Areas affected	Madagascar
Part of the 2004 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season

Cyclone Gafilo was a powerful tropical cyclone which struck Madagascar in March 2004, causing devastating damage. Gafilo began as a tropical disturbance back on the February 29, 2004 in the central Indian Ocean, south of Diego Garcia. First advisories for Tropical Disturbance 09 were issued on March 2 by 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 to Tropical Storm Gafilo. It's forward motion also slowed down, 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 125 knots (144 mph) 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 mbar and sustained windspeed of 140 knots. After midnight, Gafilo struck the northeast coast of Madagascar near to the town of Antalaha as a Category 5 cyclone, the highest possible rating. Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Download high resolution version (656x717, 122 KB) Summary Satellite picture of Cyclone Gafilo at peak intensity about 180nm east from Madagascar. ... Jump to: navigation, search March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 11 March is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (71st in Leap year). ... Jump to: navigation, search 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. ... Jump to: navigation, search Cyclone Catarina, a rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone viewed from the International Space Station on March 26, 2004. ... Jump to: navigation, search February 29 is the 60th day of a leap year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 306 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Réunion is an island and overseas département (département doutre-mer, or DOM) of France, located in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, about 200 km southwest of Mauritius. ... The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a division of the United States Navys Navy Pacific Meteorological and Oceanography Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. ... Jump to: navigation, search March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search March 6 is the 65th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (66th in Leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A millibar (mbar, also mb) is 1/1000th of a bar, a unit for measurement of pressure. ... Category 5 can refer to either: Category 5 cable used for carrying data Category 5 computer virus as classified by Symantec Corporation for the most severe threat level. ...

After landfall, Gafilo continued its track to southwest, crossing the island and emerging at the Mozambique Channel as a tropical storm. Over water it briefly re-intensified back to hurricane strength, then turned southeast and made second landfall at southwest Madagascar as a strong tropical storm. Gafilo dissipated March 11 over southern Madagascar, with remnant low emerging over the ocean, but conditions were unfavourable for regeneration. Jump to: navigation, search 11 March is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (71st in Leap year). ...

At least 250 people were listed dead, with more missing, and 300,000 people were left homeless. Greatest single loss of life came on March 7 when ferry 'Le Samson' sank in heavy seas off Comoros carrying 113 people; only three survived. Storm also caused signifant crop losses. Damage might have been even worse, but fast forward motion of the storm likely lessened the impact. Nevertheless, with Cyclone Elita hitting Madagascar just little over a month earlier, strain to economy of the country was considerable. Jump to: navigation, search March 7 is the 66th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (67th in Leap years). ...

See also

List of notable tropical cyclones Jump to: navigation, search This is a list of notable tropical cyclones, subdivided by basin and reason for notability. ...