A powerful cyclone struck Madagascar’s east coast on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and causing extensive destruction, authorities have confirmed.
Cyclone Gezani made landfall in the coastal city of Toamasina with winds reaching 250 kilometres (155 miles) per hour, according to the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management.
In an updated statement on Wednesday, the agency said 20 people had died — many after houses collapsed under the force of the storm. Fifteen others were reported missing, while at least 33 sustained injuries.
Drone footage released by authorities showed severe flooding across Toamasina, a city of about 400,000 residents located roughly 220 kilometres northeast of the capital, Antananarivo. Roofs were ripped off buildings, trees uprooted, and major roads blocked by debris.
Officials reported extensive damage across the surrounding Atsinanana region, noting that assessments were ongoing.
“It’s total chaos: 90 percent of house roofs have been blown off, entirely or in part,” said Rija Randrianarisoa, head of disaster management at the humanitarian group Action Against Hunger.
“The roads are completely inaccessible because of fallen trees and sheets of metal,” he told AFP.
A Toamasina resident described the storm as “monstrous,” saying the winds were strong enough to bring down solid walls.
Although the cyclone weakened after making landfall, it continued moving inland, raising fears of further flooding.
President Michael Randrianirina, who assumed office in October, travelled to Toamasina on Wednesday to assess the scale of the devastation.
The Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (CMRS) on France’s Reunion Island said Toamasina was “directly hit by the most intense part” of the storm.
It noted that the landfall could rank among the strongest recorded in the region in the satellite era comparable to Cyclone Geralda in February 1994, which killed at least 200 people and affected about half a million.
Cyclone season in the southwest Indian Ocean typically runs from November to April and produces around a dozen storms annually.
