Aid agencies fear humanitarian crisis in Madagascar after deadly cyclone
Cyclone Batsirai swept through Madagascar on Monday after killing 21 people, leaving 70,000 homeless and devastating the drought-stricken island’s agricultural area, prompting the United Nations to warn of a worsening humanitarian crisis.
Madagascar was already reeling from a tropical storm that killed 55 people late last month, and the latest severe weather event came as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the continent “bears the brunt and cost” of global warming.
After sinking the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, Batserai made landfall in eastern Madagascar on Saturday evening, bringing torrential rain and winds of 165 kilometers (102 miles) per hour.
Jean-Benoit Manhees, representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the country, told AFP on Monday that Patsyrai left Madagascar at 7 am (0400 GMT) for the Mozambique channel.
Madagascar’s disaster management agency said Batsrai has left 21 people dead and forced 70,000 from their homes.
UNICEF has warned that many of the victims are likely to be children, who make up more than half of the country’s population.
The city of Batsiray first hit a sparsely populated agricultural region in the east of the country on Saturday, before weakening.
In Manningari, the epicenter, residents stared helplessly at their city in ruins.
Our house has collapsed, we don’t know where to go, we have no food. “Everything is destroyed,” said a Perthian resident.
Footage in the south-central city of Fianarantsoa showed a building reduced to rubble.
As the cyclone moved inland, UNICEF said, it caused flooding that destroyed rice fields in the “breadbasket” in the center of the country.
“The impact of the hurricane does not end today, it will continue for several months, especially its impact on agriculture,” Manhees said.
“The roofs of many schools and health centers have been destroyed” in the affected areas, UNICEF said.
Atsinanana, Fitovinany, Vatovavy, Atsimo Atsinanana, Haute Matsiatra and Amoron’i Mania were the areas most affected by #cyclone #Batsirai #Madagascar pic.twitter.com/XMRFp11uUt
– Satiri Ramaroson (@sramaroson) Feb 6, 2022
Patsiray survived the capital, Antananarivo, and the island’s main port, Tamatav, bringing the death toll lower than initially feared by authorities and aid organizations, who warned that nearly 600,000 people could be affected and 140,000 homeless.
Some 77 percent of Madagascar’s 28 million people live below the poverty line, and the final blow comes during a severe drought in the south that has left more than a million people severely malnourished, and some are facing starvation.
‘An ongoing humanitarian crisis’ Manhas said the cyclone partially destroyed the main road connecting the north and south of the island, which would “make it difficult to provide access and reinforcements to villages, including drought-affected areas.”
“Madagascar is in an ongoing humanitarian crisis,” he added.
About 20 roads and 17 bridges have been cut, according to the country’s disaster management agency.
According to the United Nations Agency for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), some of the hardest-hit areas such as the city of Manakara have become inaccessible.
An AFP reporter saw that part of the main road in Ranomavana had collapsed while large boulders from nearby hills rolled onto the runway in other sections.
The United Nations on Monday made its first flight in an effort to assess the damage and determine the best response.
President Andry Rajoelina flew to Manakara to inspect the damage and distribute relief aid on Monday, according to a post on his Facebook page.
About 10,000 people in La Reunion were left without power on Sunday, three days after Batseraie ran across the French island, injuring 12 people on the way.
Madagascar was still picking things up after Tropical Storm Anna affected at least 131,000 people across the island late last month, with most of the 55 deaths occurring in Antananarivo. Anna also struck Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, killing dozens.
Speaking at a summit of African leaders on Sunday, South African President Ramaphosa said the continent was “suffering from the worst effects of phenomena associated with global warming such as droughts, floods and cyclones”.
“Although they are not responsible for causing climate change, it is Africans who bear the brunt and cost,” he said.
(AFP)
