Intense Tropical Cyclone Bondo was the first of a series of six

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depen ...

s to impact

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

during the 2006–07 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season. Bondo developed on 15 December in the central

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

, west of

Diego Garcia Diego Garcia is an island of the British Indian Ocean Territory, a disputed overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is a militarised atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, and the largest of the 60 small islands of ...

. After strengthening into a moderate tropical storm on 18 December, the storm

rapidly intensified In meteorology, rapid intensification is a situation where a tropical cyclone intensifies dramatically in a short period of time. The United States National Hurricane Center defines rapid intensification as an increase in the maximum sustained wi ...

while moving westward, taking advantage of favorable atmospheric conditions. Within 18 hours of being named, Bondo intensified to tropical cyclone status, or the equivalent of a minimal hurricane. The Météo-France office on Réunion (MFR) estimated peak 10-minute sustained winds of 205 km/h (125 mph), although the American-based

Joint Typhoon Warning Center The Joint typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...

estimated stronger 1-minute winds of 250 km/h (155 mph). While near peak intensity, Bondo passed just south of

Agaléga Agaléga (french: îles Agaléga) is a dependency of Mauritius which consists of two outer islands located in the Indian Ocean, about north of Mauritius Island. The population of the islands as at July 2011 was estimated at 289. The islands h ...

island, before weakening slightly and moving through the

Farquhar Group The Farquhar Group belong to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, lying in the southwest of the island nation, more than southwest of the capital, Victoria, on Mahé Island. Area The total land area of all islands in the group is less than , ...

of islands belonging to the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

, becoming the strongest cyclone to affect that island group in decades. Bondo turned southwestward, and after brushing the northern coast of Madagascar, the cyclone made

landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

near Mahajanga on 25 December. The storm continued southward, and was last tracked by the MFR on 28 December. Due to its small size, Bondo's winds did not exceed on Agaléga, despite passing close by near peak intensity. In the Seychelles, Bondo severely damaged buildings and vegetation on Providence Atoll. High waves caused flooding elsewhere in the archipelago. In Madagascar, Bondo killed 11 people when it struck the island's west coast. The storm's high winds, reaching in Mahajanga, damaged buildings and left around 20,000 people homeless.

Meteorological history

An area of

convection Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the conve ...

, or thunderstorms, persisted west of

in the central

on 15 December. That day, the Météo-France meteorological office in Réunion (MFR) classified the weather disturbance as Tropical Disturbance 3. Over the next two days, the disturbance became more organized, with increasing convection over the center. This was due to the system moving into an area of lower wind shear. On 18 December, the MFR upgraded the system to Moderate Tropical Storm Bondo. On the same day, the

(JTWC) began issuing advisories on Bondo, designating it Tropical Cyclone 05S. Steered by a ridge to the south, Bondo moved westward into an area conducive for strengthening, including low wind shear, warm waters of around , and favorable outflow. Within 18 hours of being named, Bondo intensified to tropical cyclone status, or the equivalent of a minimal hurricane, and continued to rapidly intensify. Late on 19 December, the JTWC estimated peak 1-minute winds of 250 km/h (155 mph). Early on 20 December, the MFR estimated peak 10-minute winds of 205 km/h (125 mph), making Bondo an intense tropical cyclone. At 02:30 UTC that day, Bondo passed about 20 km (12 mi) south of

, one of the Outer Islands of Mauritius. Despite the close approach at peak intensity, the cyclone's small size spared the strongest winds from affecting the island. Increasing wind shear and an

eyewall replacement cycle In meteorology, eyewall replacement cycles, also called concentric eyewall cycles, naturally occur in intense tropical cyclones, generally with winds greater than , or major hurricanes ( Category 3 or above). When tropical cyclones reach this int ...

caused Bondo to weaken, beginning on 20 December. On the same day, the track shifted to the west-northwest. On 21 December, Bondo passed over Providence Atoll and

Farquhar Atoll The Farquhar Atoll is part of the Farquhar Group of islands in the Seychelles that are part of the Outer Islands. It is located southwest of the capital, Victoria, on Mahé Island. History The atoll was named in honor of Robert Townsend Farqu ...

, part of the Outer Islands of

. It was the most intense tropical cyclone in several decades to strike that part of the Seychelles. On 22 December, Bondo weakened to a moderate tropical storm as its track shifted to the southwest. The storm re-intensified due to warmer waters, regaining tropical cyclone intensity late on 23 December near the northern tip of

. On the next day, the JTWC estimated a secondary peak intensity of 215 km/h (135 mph), while the MFR estimated a secondary peak of 140 km/h (85 mph). Land interaction and drier air caused the storm to weaken slightly. Around 12:00 UTC on 25 December, Bondo made landfall in northwestern Madagascar near Mahajanga as a severe tropical storm. The storm weakened to a tropical disturbance while continuing southward through the country. On 26 December, Bondo emerged into the

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (french: Canal du Mozambique, mg, Lakandranon'i Mozambika, pt, Canal de Moçambique) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about lon ...

. The MFR continued tracking the disturbance for two more days, by which point Bondo was located off the southwest coast of Madagascar.

Preparations and impact

Cyclone Bondo first affected the small island of Agaléga. The Mauritius Meteorological Service warned for the potential of storm surge, high winds, and heavy rainfall. While passing nearby, wind gusts did not exceed . However, rainfall from the storm occurred on Agaléga, reaching about over 24 hours. Due to its proximity to the equator, the Farquhar Atoll is rarely affected by tropical cyclones. Bondo was the first cyclone to affect Farquhar since Tropical Storm Honorine in 1974. The MFR described Bondo as "shaking the immemorial peacefulness of the islets of the Farquhar Archipelago and wreaking havoc on the northernmost ones." On 21 December, officials in Seychelles evacuated 35 of its 43 residents. The remaining eight stayed on Providence Atoll in a concrete bunker, unable to be evacuated due to limited time and resources. Bondo destroyed most of the buildings and about 60% of the coconut trees on Providence, decimating the island's

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from co ...

industry. The island's human population was evacuated following the storm and not returned, due to the inability for emergency evacuations. The storm killed native pigs, birds, hens, and cats on Providence, while also wrecking vegetation. The cyclone also produced tides higher than normal in the Inner Islands of Seychelles, along with waves. Rough seas caused flooding, beach erosion, and coastal damage on Mahé,

Praslin Praslin () is the second largest island (38.5 km2) of the Inner Seychelles, lying northeast of Mahé in the Somali Sea. Praslin has a population of around 7,533 people and comprises two administrative districts: Baie Sainte Anne and Gran ...

, and

La Digue La Digue is the third most populated island of the Seychelles, and fourth largest by land area, lying east of Praslin and west of Felicite Island. In size, it is the fourth-largest granitic island of Seychelles after Mahé, Praslin and Silhouette ...

. One person was injured on Mahé. In northern Madagascar, Cyclone Bondo produced gusty winds and heavy rainfall. Eleven people were killed as a result of Bondo and another was reported as missing. A total of 20,001 people were left homeless. One of the fatalities took place in Mahajanga after a wall collapsed on a man. Another fatality occurred offshore after a man went missing while taking his family canoeing. Roughly 300 people were affected in the city of Mahajanga alone. The city recorded of rainfall in 24 hours, as well as peak wind gusts of . Bondo knocked out the power, water, and phone service in Mahajanga, hampering rescue efforts.

Aftermath

In the Seychelles, officials reinforced buildings to withstand future storm damage, following Cyclone Bondo. The improvements failed to withstand the winds from a stronger storm, Cyclone Fantala, which affected the same group of islands in 2016. In conjunction with the

International Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

, rescue teams in Madagascar were deployed to the hardest hit regions on 27 December. These teams traveled by road to the region while a third team was set to arrive by helicopter several days later. Bondo was the first in a series of six storms to affect Madagascar in the 2006-07 season, followed by Severe Tropical Storm Clovis, which struck southeastern Madagascar in January; Cyclones Favio and Gamede, which brushed the island in February, Indlala in March, and Jaya in April. In late-February, 2007, the Government of Norway provided $800,000 in relief funds for the combined effects of Cyclones Bondo, Favio and Clovis. On 15 March, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

announced a funding program after three other storms had struck Madagascar. The goal was to provide roughly $9 million to about 300,000 of the millions of affected population. However, upon the announcement, only $3 million of this fund had been allocated. Following the widespread damage from Cyclone Indlala in March, 2007, the

Government of Madagascar Politics of Madagascar takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Madagascar is head of state and the Prime Minister of Madagascar is head of government, and of a pluriform mul ...

launched an appeal to the United Nations for $246 million in relief funds for damage wrought by all five cyclones. The appeal ultimately raised 76% of its target, which was spent on food, shelter, and other emergency items.

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