Cyclone brings heavy rain

The eye of tropical cyclone Dina was expected to miss Mauritius on Tuesday, but residents were advised to remain on full alert after torrential rains flooded homes on the island.

A statement from the Mauritius Meteorological Service was quoted in news reports as saying: "If you compare the position now to a few hours ago, we conclude that it is moving away ... But the storm has a large diameter and the cyclone winds are still influencing the island."

In a situation report the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said: "The very intense tropical cyclone Dina, passed north of Mauritius during the night of 21 January. The centre of the storm spared the island, coming within 65 km of the island in the early morning."

It added: "Late evening of 21 January, the Mauritius Meteorological Services put the island on alert four, the highest alert. It reported that wind speeds reached 206 km per hour and torrential rains brought down trees. Two deaths have been reported. Wile the extent of the damage is not yet clear at this time, it is feared that the cyclone might have damaged sugar crops, one of the main sources of the economy."

News reports on Tuesday said that the storm was heading towards the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, with officials warning residents to secure their homes and to stay indoors. Officials were quoted as saying that the storm was situated to the northeast of the French island on Tuesday morning after having passed the island of Mauritius.

High winds have caused sporadic cuts in electricity and telephone service, Christophe Aumonier, a senior official in Saint-Denis, the capital of Reunion was quoted as saying. "We've had lots of rain and some rivers have overflowed," he said, but adding that damage was so far limited.