Cyclone Bondo changes course-Passes between Farquhar and Providence |22 December 2006

As a result, Met services advised that the cyclone could also have effects on the more westerly lying Aldabra.

 “We were expecting it to be at least 40 to 60 kilometres south of Farquhar but it has moved north-westwards,” acting director of the Seychelles Meteorological Services, Denis Chong-Seng, said.

“Instead it has passed 70 kilometres north of Farquhar, and right now it is located around 25 kilometres south of Providence,” he said at round 3 p.m. Thursday, adding that its effects would continue until the night.

Mr Chong-Seng noted that in their earlier forecasts, they had advised that the path of the cyclone could change by up to 400 kilometres given that the predictions were far ahead of the actual event.

He nevertheless noted that maximum wind was located over Farquhar, explaining that within a cyclone, the strongest wind moves in the same direction as the cyclone.

“So even though the cyclone is closer to Providence, the maximum wind is nearer Farquhar,” he said.

There are usually between 30 and 40 people on Providence, but majority of them had already come down to Mahe for Christmas, leaving only 12 on the island, chief executive officer Glenny Savy of the Island Development Company (IDC) said.

He said that the eight people who were left on Farquhar so as to get things up and running after the cyclone passed were in an all concrete bunker.

“We are in touch with them through satellite telephone and they are ok,” he said.
Farquhar has a small guest house and staff quarters for the 35 or so residents who are involved in fishing and agriculture. Some of their houses are made of blocks and others are wooden.

“We expect major damage to the infrastructure there but it’s only Saturday December 22 when we will know after we dispatch people on a boat to assess the situation,” Mr Savy said.