Batsirai: Tropical cyclone death toll increases to 92 in Madagascar

The death toll from tropical cyclone Batsirai has increased to at least 92 people in Madagascar and over 60 000 have been displaced. 

Batsirai was the second tropical cyclone to hit the island in two weeks. The tropical cyclone made a landfall on the island on Saturday and has since caused extensive damage. Tropical storm Ana affected at least 131,000 people across the island in late January, with most of the 55 deaths coming in Antananarivo. 

BATSIRAI WREAKS HAVOC IN MADAGASCAR

Batsirai made a landfall on Saturday 5 February 2020. Weather experts had predicted that the central part of the coast (in Madagascar) will bear the brunt of strong, damaging winds and torrential rainfall.

The cyclone’s powerful winds at 140 km/hand floods ripped people’s roofs and flooded their homes leaving many homeless. The hardest-hit areas were on the eastern side of the country, though the full scope of the damage was still being assessed.

According to Madagascar’s National Office for Risk and Disaster Management, more than 112,000 people have been impacted by Batsirai, which was classified by the country’s meteorology department as a dangerous storm. 

• As of Wednesday evening, at least 92 people had died, mostly in the southern Ikongo district, and over 60,000 others remain displaced from their homes and have been temporarily relocated, the country’s risk and disaster management office said.

• At least 53 hospitals were damaged and six were completely destroyed. 

• The storm also damaged various infrastructure, including at least 20 roads and 17 bridges, leaving some of the worst-affected areas inaccessible by road. 

• Some towns suffered disruptions to power and water supplies.

The South African Weather Service previously said despite significant recent advances in Numeric Weather Prediction (NWP) and supercomputing, it was not possible to accurately determine whether tropical cyclone Batsirai will eventually affect South Africa, either directly or indirectly.

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