Cyclone Gezani: Mozambique Hit After Deadly Madagascar Storm
- Cyclone Gezani has brought a swathe of devastation across Southern Africa, claiming at least four lives in Mozambique and leaving a trail of destruction in Madagascar, where the...
- Mozambican officials confirmed the latest fatalities on Saturday, as the full extent of the damage in Inhambane began to emerge.
- More than 13,000 people in Inhambane are without power, the national electric company reported, as downed trees and damaged infrastructure crippled the electricity grid.
Cyclone Gezani has brought a swathe of devastation across Southern Africa, claiming at least four lives in Mozambique and leaving a trail of destruction in Madagascar, where the death toll has reached at least 41. The storm, which lashed Mozambique’s Inhambane province on , follows a similar path of destruction through Madagascar earlier this week.
Mozambican officials confirmed the latest fatalities on Saturday, as the full extent of the damage in Inhambane began to emerge. The cyclone packed winds of up to 215km per hour (134mph), according to meteorologists cited by the AFP news agency, tearing through communities and disrupting essential services.
More than 13,000 people in Inhambane are without power, the national electric company reported, as downed trees and damaged infrastructure crippled the electricity grid. Water supplies have also been cut off in several districts of the city of Inhambane, a coastal urban center home to approximately 100,000 residents.
The impact of Cyclone Gezani comes as Mozambique continues to grapple with the aftermath of recent severe flooding, which affected over 700,000 people and damaged more than 170,000 homes, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. This latest disaster underscores the increasing vulnerability of the Southern African nation to extreme weather events, a trend scientists attribute to the effects of climate change.
In Madagascar, the government has declared a national emergency in response to the widespread devastation caused by Cyclone Gezani. The storm’s passage left an estimated $142 million in damage, officials said, impacting infrastructure, agriculture, and livelihoods across the island nation.
At least 427 people in Madagascar have been injured, and over 16,300 have been displaced from their homes, according to official reports. The eye of the cyclone passed directly over Toamasina, Madagascar’s second-largest city with a population of 400,000, on , leaving approximately 80 percent of the city damaged, according to local leaders.
Colonel Michael Randrianirina, Madagascar’s leader, described the scale of the destruction in Toamasina, stating that roughly three-quarters of the city had been destroyed. The disruption to essential services is severe, with electricity coverage reduced to approximately 5 percent and a complete lack of access to potable water.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has highlighted the overwhelming scale of the humanitarian crisis in Madagascar. Tania Goosens, the WFP’s Madagascar director, stated on that “the scale of destruction is overwhelming” in Toamasina. She added that the WFP’s office and one warehouse had been completely destroyed, further complicating relief efforts.
The back-to-back impact of Cyclone Gezani on Mozambique and Madagascar highlights the growing threat posed by increasingly intense tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean. The region is particularly vulnerable due to a combination of factors, including its geographic location, the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, and the effects of climate change, which are believed to be intensifying these weather systems.
The immediate priorities for both Mozambique and Madagascar are to provide emergency assistance to those affected, including food, water, shelter, and medical care. Longer-term recovery efforts will focus on rebuilding infrastructure, restoring livelihoods, and strengthening resilience to future disasters. The international community is mobilizing resources to support these efforts, but the scale of the challenge is significant.
The situation in both countries remains fluid, and further assessments are underway to determine the full extent of the damage and the needs of the affected populations. Ongoing monitoring of weather patterns is crucial to provide early warnings and enable communities to prepare for future extreme weather events. The repeated cycle of cyclones and floods underscores the urgent need for investment in disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation measures across Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean region.