ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Tropical Cyclone Gezani made landfall in Madagascar’s main port city, unleashing winds that collapsed houses and left at least nine people dead on the Indian Ocean island, authorities said Wednesday.
Wind speeds exceeded 195 kph (121 mph) and Madagascar’s weather service issued red alerts for several regions, warning of possible floods and landslides as Gezani moved across the largely poor country of 31 million people.
Madagascar, battered by another deadly cyclone less than two weeks earlier, is especially vulnerable to cyclones blowing in off the Indian Ocean.
The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said at least nine people died as buildings collapsed and at least 19 people were injured as Gezani made landfall late Tuesday in the eastern city of Toamasina.
Toamasna, the island’s main port with around 300,000 residents, bore the brunt of the cyclone and sustained severe damage, residents told The Associated Press.
Madagascar President Michael Randrianirina, who took power in a military coup in October, visited Toamasina to survey damage and meet residents, according to videos posted on the Facebook page of the president’s office. The videos showed flooded neighborhoods, homes and shops with windows blown out and roofs blown off, and trees and other debris strewn across the streets.
“It’s devastation. Roofs have been blown away, walls have collapsed, power poles are down, trees have been uprooted. It looks like a catastrophic landscape,” Toamasina resident Michel, who gave only his first name, said over the phone.
Power has been cut off in Toamasina since Tuesday.
Gezani moved across Madagascar from east to west on Wednesday, weakening to a tropical storm as it moved inland, according to the national weather service.
The storm passed around 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of the capital, Antananarivo, which is one of the regions under a red alert warning for possible flooding.
On Jan. 31, Tropical Cyclone Fytia killed 14 people in Madagascar and displaced more than 85,000, according to the risk and disaster management agency.
Cyclone season in Madagascar is from around November to March and brings recurring weather disasters for one of the world’s poorest countries, which barely has time to recover before another hits.
Madagascar, the world’s fourth largest island, has been impacted by more than a dozen tropical storms or cyclones since 2020. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction say they cause an estimated $85 million worth of damage to infrastructure each year that impedes the nation’s development.
Forecasts showed Gezani was expected to move into the Mozambique channel between Madagascar and Africa’s east coast on Thursday and warned it might strengthen into a tropical cyclone again and turn back toward Madagascar’s southwest coast next week.
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