Cyclone warning lifted

Mauritian sugar cane farmers on Tuesday breathed a sigh of relief as a severe tropical storm passed over the Indian Ocean island without incident. The country's weather services had previously issued a "cyclone warning, class one" and urged residents to stock up on adequate emergency supplies. But Subash Padaruth, deputy director of Mauritius Meteorological Services, told IRIN that apart from "some strong winds associated with a severe storm, we can safely say the worst is over. We were expecting wind speeds of up to 120 km but that never materialised. All cyclone warnings have been lifted." He added that the cyclone was moving towards Madagascar and was likely to land on the nearby island within days. Mauritius was last hit by a cyclone in February, when tropical storm Gerry devastated houses in some poorer areas and caused power cuts. Gerry also hurt sugar output, with officials revising this year's sugar production down to 600,000 mt from 620,000 mt.