The origins of Cyclone Gervaise were in early February 1975 from a circular area of convection, or thunderstorms, located in the Intertropical Convergence Zone southwest of Diego Garcia in the south-west Indian Ocean.

The system organized as it moved generally to the southwest, a trajectory it would maintain for several days due to a subtropical ridge to its southeast, and an area of low pressure near the Mascarene Islands.

Continuing southwestward, the cyclone struck Mauritius on February 6, with the calm of the eye lasting for three hours.

That day, the American-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)[b] estimated peak winds of 130 km/h (80 mph).

Its strongest wind gusts occurred after the passage of the eye, peaking at 280 km/h (170 mph) at Mon Desert.

The high winds knocked down power lines, radio transmission with Vacoas for 24 hours, and many crops.

Moored yachts around the coast were washed hundreds of yards inland in places due to the storm surge and in the Mauritian capital Port Louis, a cargo ship of ca.