page_title: Cyclone Firinga
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Cyclone Firinga / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: Saffir-Simpson Hurricane ScaleTDTS12345 English: Cyclone Firinga (1989) track. Uses the color scheme from the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
context_page_description: Cyclone Firinga produced record-breaking rainfall on the French overseas department of Réunion. It was the sixth named storm of the season, having developed on January 24, 1989 in the south-west Indian Ocean. Given the name Firinga, it moved generally southwestward for much of its duration. While the cyclone was approaching Mauritius late on January 28, it attained peak winds of 135 km/h. Firinga passed 50 km west of the island, producing 190 km/h wind gusts that destroyed 844 homes. Heavy crop damage occurred on the island, and damage nationwide was estimated at $60 million. One person was killed in Mauritius.
  After passing Mauritius, Firinga struck Réunion early on January 29 with wind gusts as strong as 216 km/h. The storm dropped torrential rainfall in the southern portion of the island, including 24‑hour totals of 1,309 mm at Pas de Bellecombe and 1,199 mm at Casabois, both of which set records for the locations. The rains caused widespread river flooding and resulted in 32 mudslides. Firinga isolated several towns due to flooding and left power and water outages. A total of 2,746 houses were damaged or destroyed, leaving 6,200 people homeless.
context_section_description: On January 24, both the Météo France office in Réunion (MFR) and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began tracking a tropical disturbance in the south-west Indian Ocean, about halfway between the east coast of Madagascar and Diego Garcia; the latter agency designated it as Tropical Cyclone 08S. After initially moving to the southeast, the system later turned to the southwest and gradually intensified. Given the name Firinga, the system intensified into a moderate tropical storm on January 26. Two days later, the JTWC upgraded the storm to the equivalent of a minimal hurricane while Firinga was approaching Mauritius. Late on January 28, the cyclone passed about 50 km (31 mi) northwest of the island. Shortly thereafter, MFR upgraded Firinga to tropical cyclone status, estimating 10 minute maximum sustained winds of 135 km/h (85 mph). At the same time, the JTWC estimated 1 minute winds of 165 mph (105 mph).
  Shortly after 0600 UTC on January 29, Firinga made landfall on Réunion while at peak intensity. It quickly crossed the island and began weakening; MFR downgraded the storm below cyclone status at 1200 UTC that day. The JTWC followed suit on January 30, and the next day Firinga began turning to the south. On February 1, the JTWC discontinued advisories, although MFR continued tracking the storm. After turning to the east and executing a loop to the southwest, Firinga was last observed on February 7.
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
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