Cyclone Gezani tears through Madagascar, killing at least 20

By Lovasoa Rabary

ANTANANARIVO, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Fierce winds left a trail of destruction in Madagascar as Tropical Cyclone Gezani hit the island, killing at least 20 people and leaving another 15 missing, the country’s disaster management office said on Wednesday.

Eighteen of the deaths were recorded in Toamasina, the impoverished Indian Ocean island nation’s second-largest city, and two in a neighbouring district, the office said in an updated report.

Residents in and around Toamasina described scenes of chaos as the cyclone made landfall late on Tuesday. “I have never experienced winds this violent … The doors and windows are made of metal, but they are being violently shaken,” said Harimanga Ranaivo.

Gezani also left at least 33 people injured. More than 2,740 residents were evacuated as a precaution after the cyclone struck coastal communities before moving inland.

It was the second cyclone to hit Madagascar this year, 10 days after tropical cyclone Fytia killed 14 and displaced over 31,000 people, according to the U.N.’s humanitarian office.

At its peak, Gezani unleashed sustained winds of about 185 km (115 miles) per hour, with gusts surging to nearly 270 km per hour — powerful enough to rip metal sheeting from rooftops and uproot large trees.

Ahead of the cyclone’s arrival, officials shuttered schools and rushed to prepare emergency shelters.

Madagascar’s National Bureau for Risk and Disaster Management had warned earlier that rising sea levels in Toamasina were already flooding streets.

Homes collapsed under the pressure of the winds, roofs were torn away, walls crumbled and neighbourhoods were plunged into darkness as power lines snapped.

By Wednesday morning, Madagascar’s meteorological service said Gezani had weakened to a moderate tropical storm and had moved westward inland, about 100 km north of the capital, Antananarivo.

“Gezani will cross the central highlands from east to west today, before moving out to sea into the Mozambique Channel this evening or tonight,” the service said.

(Reporting by Lovasoa Rabary; Writing by Vincent Mumo Nzilani; Editing by Ros Russell, Aidan Lewis)