Mauritius shuts airport and stock exchange ahead of Tropical Cyclone Berguitta
Port Louis — Mauritius closed its main airport and stock exchange as it braced for the arrival of a cyclone packing winds of up to 120km/h. Tropical Cyclone Berguitta is situated about 300km northeast of Mauritius and heading toward it at a speed of about 7km/h, the country’s meteorological service said in a statement on its website. The storm is forecast to make landfall overnight, it said. "Berguitta represents a direct threat to Mauritius," the service said. The tropical cyclone is the third in January to form in the southwest Indian Ocean. Tropical Cyclone Ava battered the island of Madagascar on January 5, leaving at least 42 people dead and 150,000 others displaced, according to country’s disaster-management office. The Red Cross activated its disaster response team for Mauritius and La Reunion, a French-administered island 227km southwest of Mauritius that is also threatened by the storm. "This dangerous cyclone puts at risk hundreds of lives in Mauritius and La Reunion," it ...
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