A cyclone packing violent winds killed at least nine people as it struck Madagascar, toppling houses and causing major flooding, the Indian Ocean island’s disaster authority said Wednesday.
At least nine people were found dead and dozens injured after a violent cyclone hit Madagascar, toppling houses and causing intense flooding, the Indian Ocean Island’s disaster authority said on Wednesday.
The Cyclone is called Gezani which slammed into the city of Toamasina with winds reaching 250 kilometres per hour and displacing dozens of people.
The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management (BNRGC) said it recorded nine deaths at the impact zone after houses collapsed. Another 19 people were hurt, it said in a statement.
Videos circulating on social media showed major flooding in the east coast city of 400,000 people and about 220km northeast of the capital Antananarivo, with roofs ripped off buildings and trees uprooted.
“It’s total chaos: 90 percent of house roofs have been blown off, entirely or in part,” said the head of disaster management at the Action Against Hunger humanitarian group, Rija Randrianarisoa.
“The roads are completely inaccessible because of trees on the ground, sheet metal,” he told AFP.
The cyclone swept across the island, posing the risk of flooding and displacement of people. A resident of Toamasina told AFP by telephone late Tuesday that the winds had collapsed solid walls. “It’s monstrous,” the resident said.
President of Madagascar, Michael Randrianirina assessed the situation on Wednesday. The CMRS forecaster on France’s Reunion island confirmed that Toasmasina had been “directly hit by the most intense part” of the storm.
The landfall was one of the most intense recorded in the region, during the satellite era, rivalling Geralda in February 1994.
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