Roy Probert
Cyclone Gafilo, which has already caused loss of life and substantial damage in northern Madagascar earlier this week, has returned to wreak further destruction in the south-west of the Indian Ocean island.
Gafilo, packing winds of up to 300 km an hour, smashed into the northern coast on Sunday, virtually destroying the town of Antalaha. A preliminary assessment showed that 95 per cent of its buildings were destroyed.
It was a similar story in many other villages in northern regions, where hundreds of hectares of agricultural land were also flooded.
The cyclone, the fiercest to hit Madagascar in 10 years, killed at least 32 people – many of them swept away by flash floods - and rendered more than 50,000 homeless. Forty-two people on the island are reported missing.
A further 113 people are feared dead after a ferry they were travelling on failed to arrive on the island as scheduled. Two survivors were reportedly washed ashore on a life raft.
The storm crossed north-western Madagascar and moved out to sea, but then changed direction and made landfall again early on Wednesday in the south-west. There is little information about casualties and damage during this latest phase.
“The cyclone was less destructive than originally anticipated. Even though it was very violent, it moved fast and therefore did not damage solid structures,” said Susanna Cunningham, of the International Federation’s regional delegation in Nairobi.
“But the rural population lives mainly in mud and straw dwellings, which are particularly susceptible to damage. The heavy rains have damaged roads and bridges and there are rising water levels are prompting concerns about communicable diseases,” she added.
Gafilo struck just a month after 29 people were killed and 44,000 were made homeless when Madagascar was battered by Cyclone Elita.
The Malagasy Red Cross, together with counterparts from the French Red Cross, has been conducting an assessment of the damage in the worst affected areas. It has mobilized 30 first-aid volunteers to support the operation in the affected communities.
The Malagasy Red Cross has identified the need to distribute blankets, soap, oil and sugar to those worst affected. But having completed relief distributions for those affected by cyclone Elita last month, their stocks have not yet been replenished. The Federation is considering how best to support them once a clearer picture of the situation and possible responses is available.
The French Red Cross, at the request of the Malagasy Red Cross, has activated its Indian Ocean Regional Intervention Platform (PIROI) and deployed a water treatment unit the capacity to process clean water for 10,000 people a day.
This unit, along with a consignment of temporary shelters and other supplies, has arrived at the north-eastern Madagascan port of Antalaha aboard a French Navy frigate. It was accompanied by a French Red Cross water engineer, who will strengthen the team already in place and supervise the setting up of water treatment and distribution.
The French Red Cross, with the Malagasy Red Cross successfully implemented a similar operation to provide clean water following Cyclone Manou in 2003.
The Federation’s regional delegation in Nairobi is playing a coordinating role. In addition, it has dispatched a senior representative of its Field Assessment and Coordination Team to Antananarivo to support the Malagasy Red Cross to assess the situation and define their response. It is also sending an experienced member of the its East Africa Regional Disaster Response Team from the Seychelles to assist and liaise with the French Red Cross.
The cyclone season continues, and a new weather system, named “Nicky” is developing to the east of Madagascar and moving in a south-westerly direction.