Cyclone Gezani kills 59 in Madagascar, thousands displaced

At least 59 people have died after Cyclone Gezani struck Madagascar last week, authorities said on February 16, as the country continues to assess the damage from the second powerful storm to hit it this year.

The country’s disaster management agency, the National Bureau for Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC), reported that 16,428 people were displaced by the cyclone. Fifteen people remain missing, 804 were injured, and nearly 424,000 people have been affected nationwide, Reuters reports.

Gezani struck just 10 days after Tropical Cyclone Fytia killed 14 people and displaced more than 31,000 others, according to the United Nations humanitarian office, compounding the humanitarian crisis on the Indian Ocean island.

At its peak, Gezani packed sustained winds of around 185 kilometres (115 miles) per hour, with gusts reaching nearly 270 km/h. The powerful winds tore metal roofing from buildings, uprooted large trees and caused extensive damage across coastal communities.

When the storm first made landfall on February 11 along Madagascar’s eastern coast, it killed nine people in the country’s second-largest city and left a trail of destruction.

After crossing the island, the cyclone moved westward into the Mozambique Channel, generating waves of up to 10 metres and heavy winds in southern Mozambique, according to the country’s weather service.

Forecasters say the storm system has since curved back eastward over the channel and is expected to loop toward Madagascar again, with a second landfall forecast in the country’s southwest on February 16, raising fears of further damage and displacement.

By Sabina Mammadli