Southern African countries on high alert as tropical storm Eloise intensifies
The South African Weather Service's Edward Engelbrecht said that they were monitoring the storm closely.
JOHANNESBURG - Southern African countries are on high alert, with tropical storm Eloise building up strength.
Countries, including eSwatini and Malawi, have issued warnings for residents to brace for possible heavy downpours and strong winds.
The storm is expected to make landfall over the south coast of Mozambique near Beira.
The United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs is reporting that more than 1,000 people have been directly affected in Madagascar and more than 50 houses destroyed, as Eloise passed the country.
The South African Weather Service's Edward Engelbrecht said that they were monitoring the storm closely.
"So at the moment it's catergorised as a tropical storm. The forecast suggests that in the next 48 hours it will intensify quite rapidly and then we expect it will be a severe tropical cyclone. We're expecting maximum winds to go up to about 90 knots, which is 180km/h sustained winds."
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