More than 30 people died after Cyclone Gezani hit Madagascar with devastating speeds on Tuesday, February 10, leaving at least two-thirds of the island's second largest city, Toamasina, in ruins, authorities said.
First modification: 02/11/2026 - 21:57
A cyclone with violent winds killed at least 31 people as it hit Madagascar, toppling homes and causing extensive flooding, the Indian Ocean island's disaster authority said Wednesday.
Cyclone Gezani made landfall on Tuesday, battering the country's second largest city, Toamasina, with winds reaching 250 kilometers per hour.
The National Bureau of Risk and Disaster Management (BNRGC) said many died after their houses collapsed on them.
Gezani also left at least 36 people seriously injured. More than 2,740 residents were evacuated as a precaution after the cyclone hit coastal communities before moving inland.
The cyclone forced the displacement of some 6,870 people, while a total of 250,406 were classified as victims of the disaster, the BNGRC said.
"What happened is a disaster: almost 75% of the city of Toamasina was destroyed," said the country's new leader, Col. Michael Randrianirina, who had traveled to Toamasina before the cyclone made landfall to support residents.
"The current situation exceeds Madagascar's capabilities," said Randrianirina, who took power in October, calling on "international partners and donors" to support the impoverished island.
Drone footage shared by BNRGC on social media showed major flooding in the east coast city of 400,000, about 220 kilometers northeast of the capital Antananarivo, with residents wading through water and roofs ripped off buildings.
The city seemed battered, its streets strewn with trees uprooted by the force of the cyclone.
The storm also caused damage in the Atsinanana region surrounding the city, the authority said, adding that post-disaster assessments were still underway.
"It is total chaos: 90 percent of the roofs of houses have been torn off, totally or partially," said the head of disaster management for the humanitarian group Action Against Hunger, Rija Randrianarisoa.
"The roads are completely inaccessible because of the trees on the ground and the metal sheets," he said.
'Monstrous'
The CMRS cyclone forecaster on the French island of Reunion confirmed on Tuesday that Toamasina had been "directly hit by the most intense part" of the storm.
The cyclone's arrival was probably one of the most intense recorded in the region during the satellite era, rivaling that of Geralda in February 1994, according to the report. That storm left at least 200 dead and affected half a million more.
A Toamasina resident told AFP by phone on Tuesday night that the winds had collapsed solid walls. "It's monstrous," he added.
Commercial flights to Toamasina airport were suspended, except for humanitarian and military flights, the airport administration said.
Fifteen members of the army's civil protection unit were sent to assist in rescue operations, authorities announced.
On Wednesday morning, Madagascar's weather service said Gezani had weakened to a moderate tropical storm and moved west inland, about 100 kilometers north of the capital.
“Gezani will cross the central highlands from east to west today, before heading out to sea towards the Mozambique Channel this afternoon or tonight,” the service said.
More than 70% of homes in Madagascar are built with precarious materials, according to the national statistics institute. © Tsiky Sikonina, AFP
In addition to Geralda in 1994, Cyclone Gretelle, which killed 152 people and displaced 60,000 in 1997, and Gafilo, which left 241 dead and affected more than 300,000, have also been particularly deadly.
More than 70% of houses in Madagascar are built with precarious materials such as clay, branches or foliage, according to the national statistics institute.
The cyclone season in the southwestern Indian Ocean usually lasts from November to April and produces about a dozen storms each year.
With AFP and EFE
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