Powerful cyclone kills at least 31 as it tears through Madagascar port

BBC:

At least 31 people have died after a powerful cyclone struck Madagascar, says the disaster authority in the Indian Ocean island.

Cyclone Gezani made landfall on Tuesday, hitting the island’s main port, Toamasina. Madagascar’s disaster management office said there was “total chaos” – reporting that houses collapsed in the impact zone, where the bodies were found.

Neighbourhoods were plunged into darkness as power lines snapped, while trees were uprooted and roofs ripped off.

“What happened is a disaster, nearly 75% of the city of Toamasina was destroyed,” the country’s military leader Colonel Michael Randrianirina, who seized power in October, told the AFP news agency.

“The current situation exceeds Madagascar’s capabilities alone,” he added.

The cyclone’s landfall is likely to have been one of the most intense recorded around the city in the satellite era, according to the CMRS cyclone forecaster on France’s Reunion island, AFP reports.

The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said many were killed when houses collapsed. Cyclone Gezani hit Toamasina – the country’s second-largest city – with winds reaching 250 km/hour (155 mph).

“It’s total chaos, 90% of house roofs have been blown off, entirely or in part,” the head of disaster management at the Action Against Hunger aid agency, Rija Randrianarisoa, told AFP.

Madagascar’s disaster management office has evacuated dozens of injured people and hundreds of residents from a district around Toamasina, home to 400,000 people.

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