A powerful cyclone has killed at least 31 people in Madagascar’s second-largest city, authorities said Wednesday, as destruction mounted.
Cyclone Gezani made landfall Tuesday in Toamasina with winds reaching 250 kilometres per hour, tearing through homes and streets.
The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management confirmed 31 deaths, many caused by collapsing houses amid violent gusts.
Four people remain missing, at least 36 were seriously injured, and more than 250,000 residents have been affected.
Nearly 75 percent of Toamasina was destroyed, Madagascar’s new leader Colonel Michael Randrianirina said after visiting the city.
“The current situation exceeds Madagascar’s capabilities alone,” he said, urging international partners and donors to provide urgent support.
Drone footage showed vast flooding across the coastal city of 400,000 people, with residents wading through muddy waters.
Roofs were ripped away, trees lay uprooted, and streets were buried under twisted sheet metal and debris.
“It’s total chaos: 90 percent of house roofs have been blown off,” said Rija Randrianarisoa of Action Against Hunger.
Roads were rendered impassable by fallen trees and wreckage, severely hampering rescue and relief efforts, he added.
France’s CMRS forecaster said Toamasina was struck by the most intense part of the storm.
It described the landfall as among the strongest recorded in the region during the satellite era.
A resident told AFP that the winds collapsed solid walls, calling the storm “monstrous.”
Commercial flights to Toamasina were suspended except for humanitarian and military operations, airport authorities said.
Fifteen army civil protection members were deployed to support rescue missions across the devastated region.
Though downgraded to a tropical storm, the system continues crossing the island, raising fears of further flooding.
Forecasters warn it could regain cyclone strength over the Mozambique Channel and threaten southern Mozambique from Friday.
Madagascar regularly faces deadly cyclones, including storms in 1994, 1997 and 2004 that killed hundreds.
More than 70 percent of homes are built from fragile materials, leaving communities highly vulnerable during cyclone season.
