Cyclone Catastrophe Bonita in January 1996 struck Attack both Madagascar and Mozambique , causing Causation severe damage .

Ultimately peaking as an intense tropical cyclone Catastrophe , Bonita bypassed Self_motion Mauritius and Réunion to the north before striking Bodily_harm northeastern Madagascar late on January 10 .

Bonita emerged Coming_to_be into the Mozambique Channel as a significantly diminished storm , though it quickly regained Recovering some of its previous intensity .

Throughout northern parts of the country , Bonita triggered Causation extensive flooding that damaged Damaging or destroyed Destroying hundreds of buildings and reportedly killed Killing 17 individuals .

A meteorological rarity , Bonita continued inland for several days , persisting as a distinct tropical low ; the system traversed Motion_directional southern Africa and ultimately entered Arriving the South Atlantic Ocean .

A paper published Publishing by the Zambia Meteorological Department asserted Statement that Bonita was the first storm confirmed Check to have tracked Self_motion across the African continent from the South-West Indian Ocean to the Southern Atlantic Ocean .