Intense Tropical Cyclone Leon–Eline was the longest-lived Indian Ocean tropical cyclone on record, traveling over during its 29‑day trek through the Indian Ocean, throughout the entire month of February. The cyclone formed on February 1, 2000, in the Australian basin as Tropical Cyclone Leon, and was renamed Eline after crossing 90° E into the South-West Indian Ocean; there, the Météo-France office in Réunion (MFR) tracked the storm's movement and intensity. Late on February 17, Eline made landfall near Mahanoro, Madagascar, with 10‑minute winds of . The storm rapidly weakened over land, but restrengthened in the Mozambique Channel to reach peak 10‑minute winds of , making it an intense tropical cyclone. On February 22, Eline made landfall about south of Beira, Mozambique, near peak intensity. Eline quickly weakened over land as it moved across Southern Africa, finally dissipating over eastern Namibia on February 29. While moving across much of the Indian Ocean, Eline brought high waves, gusty winds, and rainfall to several islands. When Eline struck Madagascar, the country was in the midst of a cholera epidemic that killed over 1,000 people. Eline directly killed at least 64 people in the country. Tropical Storm Gloria struck Madagascar 13 days later, compounding the damage and making it difficult to discern the individual effects. Damage from Eline was estimated at $9 million (USD), and collectively the two storms killed 205 people and left another 10,000 homeless. In the region around Vatomandry where Eline made landfall, 65% of houses were damaged, 90% of crops were lost, and 75% of health facilities were wrecked. Before Eline's final landfall, Mozambique's worst floods since 1951 had killed about 150 people. The additional rainfall and flooding from Eline created the country's worst natural disaster in a century, and disrupted ongoing relief efforts. The combined effects destroyed over of crop fields and killed 40,000 cattle. The Limpopo River reached wide and above normal in some areas, which isolated the town of Xai-Xai. A dam broke along the river, flooding the town of Chokwe in the middle of the night and trapping several unprepared residents; this accounted for nearly half of the death toll. About 55 people drowned in Sofala Province after rescue helicopters arrived too late to save them. Around 20,000 people in the capital city of Maputo lost their homes. In addition to the floods, strong winds blew away many roofs and some entire houses made of mud.