The lives and livelihoods of close to 800,000 Madagascans have been affected after their island was battered twice by Cyclone Gafilo last week. At least 74 people are known to have died, 177 are unaccounted for and 200,000 have been left homeless, by what was the most intense cyclone to have hit the country in ten years. Many more are in need of shelter, clean water and health care.
In view of the enormous needs, the International Federation has launched an appeal for 427,000 Swiss francs (US$ 333,000) to support the Malagasy Red Cross in bringing assistance to the affected population in the south-western region of Morombé.
Packing winds of up to 300 km an hour, Gafilo struck the Indian Ocean island on 7 March, cutting a swathe through northern regions. Having passed out to sea, the cyclone changed direction, returning on 10 March to batter the southern half of the country. The initial emergency operations focused on the northern part of the island. With the support of the Federation, the Malagasy Red Cross and the French Red Cross through the Indian Ocean Rapid Intervention Platform (PIROI) responded immediately to the emergency, providing clean water, temporary shelter and basic relief supplies.
“Given adequate and rapid donor response, three Antonov cargo planes will be chartered to airlift shelter and emergency relief articles from our regional base in Nairobi to the south-western town of Toliara, the closest town with an international-sized airport to the flooded area of Morombé,” says Steve Penny, the Federation’s regional disaster management coordinator. “Our regional assessment team is already in place to receive the aid and facilitate its rapid distribution to the affected communities.”
Throughout Morombé, home to nearly 100,000 people, dozens of Red Cross volunteers have been mobilized to assist some 25,000 Madagascans stranded on the roofs of their houses or on hilltops. The Red Cross intervention continues in the north of the country as well, where in some towns 85 per cent of homes have been damaged or destroyed and flooding has caused considerable damage to crops. In a combined effort, authorities and humanitarian workers are striving to limit the risk of outbreaks of water-borne diseases. Preliminary assessments indicate that damage to essential crops may also lead to food shortages in the longer term.
The Federation appeal comes at a time when Madagascar is still recovering from cyclone Elita, which hit the island three times between 26 January and 4 February, killing 29 people and leaving over 44,000 homeless.