The situation on the island of Madagascar after the devastating tropical storm Batsirai was unclear for a long time. Many road links are still disrupted by landslides and flooding.
Antananarivo – At least 80 dead, villages cut off from the outside world, schools and bridges destroyed, fields flooded: only gradually is the path of destruction revealed by tropical storm “Batsirai” in Madagascar.
The civil protection agency responsible, BNGRC, reported 31 deaths on Wednesday morning, but then increased the number to at least 80 in the evening. Most of these were in the particularly affected Ikongo district. This part of the island off Africa’s east coast is still completely cut off from the outside world. Several landslides would have blocked the roads.
Extreme weather events are increasing
“Batsirai” had hit the island on Sunday night. The heavy rains brought on by the storm had triggered flooding and mudslides. Thousands of houses are under water or have been completely destroyed.
“Almost 10,000 students are currently unable to go to school, 1,203 classrooms were completely destroyed and 53 basic health centers were damaged,” said Welthungerhilfe, which spoke of almost 95,000 injured. Many towns are further cut off and access is difficult.
In the Ikongo district, many buildings were made of mud, which softened in the heavy rains and fell on the sleeping residents. There alone 60 dead were counted.
France sent several dozen rescue workers to Madagascar. Among other things, they should help to set up a filter system for drinking water. In addition, France is financing the delivery of 75 tons of relief supplies that will benefit around 3,000 families. Among other things, emergency shelters should also be set up. The German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) is already deployed with an advance squad.
According to estimates by the World Food Program (WFP), up to 600,000 people could have been affected by the cyclone and 150,000 of them displaced. Such extreme weather events have increased in frequency and intensity in southern Africa, exacerbating hunger there, WFP said.
The drought came before the storm
Even before Batsirai arrived, the aid organization Action Against Hunger saw 1.6 million people affected by food insecurity due to the worst drought in 30 years – that’s a good third of Madagascar’s population. Since the cyclone has destroyed farmland on the east coast, the situation could now worsen.
The tropical storm came from the island of Mauritius, where at least one person died. Southern Africa is currently in cyclone season which can bring rain and severe storms through March or April. Just two weeks ago, tropical storm Ana caused severe damage in the states of Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia. dpa
