Rain belt settles over Mahe as cyclone weakens |30 December 2004

The new atmospheric development is believed to be the cause of the heavy rains that have poured down on Mahe through Wednesday December 29, causing widespread flooding.

Wills Agricole of the National Meteorological Services (NMS) said that as the tropical cyclone Chambo in the Indian Ocean began to weaken it released the rain belt, which it had been dragging southward away from Seychelles.

North Mahe has been the hardest hit, with 240.7 mm of rain recorded at Machabee, while St Louis also registered more than 200 mm, Mr Agricole said.
 
Early Wednesday morning, runoff from the hills formed virtual rivers that swept across roads, making them impassable. The runoff could also be seen spilling out into the oceans, forming brown plumes extending out to sea.

Mr Agricole said that the flooding might have been worsened due to the possibility of drainage problems resulting from Sunday’s (December 26) tidal waves, but added that the heavy rains alone were probably enough to set off the deluge.

Rain has been recorded throughout most of the island as a whole, but the bulk has been felt in the North.

Mr Agricole said Wednesday’s downpour, however, was not too far out of the ordinary. December and January are usually Seychelles’ two wettest months, when the rain belt is typically active over Mahe.

During the rainy season, “the rain belt fluctuates between the Equator and about 10 degrees South and we are under its influence,” he said.
The NMS is expecting the weather to improve, with some sunshine forecast for today.

But Mr Agricole said that with Chambo and the rain belt splitting up, Seychelles should slide back into its normal weather pattern for the next two months, and that could mean more rain before the New Year.