ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar: A cyclone packing violent winds has killed at least 35 people and caused devastation in Madagascar’s second-largest city, the Indian Ocean island’s disaster authority said Thursday (Feb 12), releasing an updated toll.
Cyclone Gezani made landfall on Tuesday, slamming into the eastern coastal city Toamasina, with winds reaching 250kmh.
The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management (BNRGC) on Thursday said it had recorded 35 deaths, while six people remained missing and at least 374 were injured.
More than 8,800 people were displaced, it said.
Madagascar’s new leader, Colonel Michael Randrianirina, on Thursday called for “international solidarity” after the cyclone “ravaged up to 75 per cent of Toamasina and its surrounds”.
AFP images from Wednesday showed the battered city of 400,000 people littered with hundreds of trees felled by strong winds, roofs blown off buildings and residents wading through flooded streets.
Humanitarian staff worked into the night to clear roads blocked by debris, according to images shared with AFP on Thursday.
More than 18,000 homes were destroyed in the cyclone, according to the BNRGC, with 50,000 damaged or flooded.
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