 Satellite image of Cyclone Bonita approaching Madagascar | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 3 January 1996 |
| Remnant low | 15 January |
| Dissipated | 20 January 1996 |
| Intense tropical cyclone | |
| 10-minute sustained (MFR) | |
| Highest winds | 185 km/h (115 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 920 hPa (mbar); 27.17 inHg |
| Category 4-equivalent tropical cyclone | |
| 1-minute sustained (SSHWS/JTWC) | |
| Highest winds | 250 km/h (155 mph) |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | ~42 |
| Areas affected | Madagascar, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola |
| IBTrACS | |
Part of the 1995–96 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season | |
Intense Tropical Cyclone Bonita in January 1996 struck both Madagascar and Mozambique, causing severe damage. The long-lived storm began developing in the last hours of 1995, and slowly consolidated over the open waters of the South-West Indian Ocean. Tracking generally toward the west-southwest, the disturbance received its name from Météo-France on 5 January. Ultimately peaking as an intense tropical cyclone, Bonita bypassed Mauritius and Réunion to the north before striking northeastern Madagascar late on 10 January. There, the storm affected up to 150,000 people, flooded wide tracts of croplands, and killed 25 people. In the aftermath, disaster relief came from both the government of Madagascar and the international community, as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs); the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs assisted in the distribution of about $450,000 in monetary donations.
Bonita emerged into the Mozambique Channel as a significantly diminished storm, though it quickly regained some of its previous intensity. Three days after its initial landfall, the cyclone moved ashore over the Zambezia Province of Mozambique. Throughout northern parts of the country, Bonita triggered extensive flooding that damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and reportedly killed 17 individuals. Swollen rivers submerged roads and bridges, isolating some locations. A meteorological rarity, Bonita continued inland for several days, persisting as a distinct tropical low; the system traversed southern Africa and ultimately entered the South Atlantic Ocean. In the process, it dropped unseasonably heavy rainfall over Zimbabwe and Zambia. A paper published by the Zambia Meteorological Department asserted that Bonita was the first storm confirmed to have tracked across the African continent from the South-West Indian Ocean to the Southern Atlantic Ocean.