The powerful tropical cyclone, which notably affected the Mananjary region on Tuesday evening, damaged more than 6,000 dwellings.
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Cyclone Freddy struck the coast of Madagascar hard, killing four people, according to the latest provisional assessment. The island of the Indian Ocean woke up Wednesday February 22 with significant damage after the passing of the powerful tropical cyclone the day before. A previous assessment reported a dead man.
Freddy touched Earth in the east of the country in the Mananjary region on Tuesday evening around 7:20 p.m. local time (5:20 p.m. Paris time) and continues its road to the west. The coastal city of 25,000 inhabitants has already been widely destroyed in 2022 by the Cyclone Batsirai, which had killed more than 135 people.
The first assessment of the National Risk Management and Disaster Management Bureau (BNGRC), which reports four dead, has not, for the moment, recorded cases of a missing person. More than 16,600 people are affected, and nearly 6,700 houses have been shaved or damaged. The complete extent of the damage is being evaluated.
“There are mainly damage linked to landing. We are still evaluating them, Freddy is still in Madagascar,” Faly Aritiana Fabien, Bngrc, told AFP. Slightly weakened, the cyclone is described as “relatively dry”. He brought less rain than expected, however the winds were extreme. Apart from the dwellings, the harvests were very shaken. The country, among the poorest in the world, already fears a shortage of rice and fruit. More than 2.3 million Malagasy (out of a population of 28 million) could be affected by this cyclone, according to the global food program.
schools and transport to stop
A man passes in front of a damaged house in the Mananjary region in Madagascar, Wednesday February 22, 2023. Solofo Rasolofomanana / Ap in Mananjary, from daybreak, people came out in the streets. Electric wires, sheet metal clumps, wood debris litter the floor. Many houses are without roof, tell residents, contacted by phone. However, before the arrival of the storm, they had weighted the top of their house with sandbags. Accustomed to bad weather, the inhabitants of the island use this method before each new episode. But the winds were stronger.
Some collect what remains of their house and leave with boards under their arm. They may be able to rebuild later. In the early morning, some grocery stores reopened. Schools have remained closed, as is public transport.
Freddy had previously passed off Maurice and Reunion, causing less damage than feared because the cyclone had not touched earth. “The weakened system continues its trajectory on the lands of Madagascar”, with an average wind reduced to 55 km/h and gusts at 75 km/h, according to Météo-France. The system must leave Madagascar at the end of the day and reach Mozambique on Friday, probably as tropical storm, with heavy rain, according to forecasts.
Madagascar is also subject to extreme drought for months in a large area in the south, which generates acute malnutrition and famine pockets. A dozen storms or cyclones cross the southwest of the Indian Ocean each year during the cyclonic season, which extends from November to April.
in Mananjary, from daybreak, people came out in the streets. Electric wires, sheet metal clumps, wood debris litter the floor. Many houses are without roof, tell residents, contacted by phone. However, before the arrival of the storm, they had weighted the top of their house with sandbags. Accustomed to bad weather, the inhabitants of the island use this method before each new episode. But the winds were stronger.
Some collect what remains of their house and leave with boards under their arm. They may be able to rebuild later. In the early morning, some grocery stores reopened. Schools have remained closed, as is public transport.
Freddy had previously passed off Maurice and Reunion, causing less damage than feared because the cyclone had not touched earth. “The weakened system continues its trajectory on the lands of Madagascar”, with an average wind reduced to 55 km/h and gusts at 75 km/h, according to Météo-France. The system must leave Madagascar at the end of the day and reach Mozambique on Friday, probably as tropical storm, with heavy rain, according to forecasts.
Madagascar is also subject to extreme drought for months in a large area in the south, which generates acute malnutrition and famine pockets. A dozen storms or cyclones cross the southwest of the Indian Ocean each year during the cyclonic season, which extends from November to April.