// Updated on 19 Feb 2022 at 11pm
Tropical cyclone Emnati will pass at about 275 km to the north-north-west of Grand Bay on Sunday morning.
This is the closest it could get to Mauritius, the Met Office warned, as it issued a cyclone warning Class 3 at 4pm and maintained the same alert at 7pm.
However, the Met Office a Warning Class 4 a couple of hours later.
At 9.10 pm, Emanti was centred at about 340 km north of Mauritius in latitude 16.8 degrees South and longitude 57.3 degrees East.
“It is moving towards the south-west at about 18 km/h and continues to approach the island. The weather is likely to deteriorate further,” the Met Office said.
It added that strong gusts were being experienced over several regions of the island.
A few stations have already recorded wind gusts of the order of 120 km/h, especially to the north and to the west of the island. Moderate to heavy intermittent rain is persisting over the whole island.
Cyclonic conditions are now prevailing over Mauritius, it added.
Some of the highest gusts recorded are as follows:
Champ de Mars: 133 km/h
Nouvelle Decouverte: 122 km/h
Domaine les Pailles: 86 km/h
Le Morne: 119 Km/h
Vacoas: 93 km/h
Beau Songes: 97 km/h
Tropical cyclone Emnati represents a direct threat to Mauritius, the Met Office said.
The sea will be high with swells of the order of 7 metres. There is a risk of storm on the north-east coast, the north and the west causing coastal inundation in these regions at high tides.
The National Emergency Operations Command (NEOC) has urged the public to stay indoors.
