Just ten days after Tropical Cyclone Fytia unleashed heavy rains and flooding across the island nation, Madagascar was struck again — this time by the far more powerful Tropical Cyclone Gezani. On Tuesday evening, Gezani made landfall along Madagascar’s northeastern coast, directly hitting Toamasina, the country’s second-largest city and principal port.
The storm brought winds exceeding 200 kilometers per hour, triggering widespread flooding, severe infrastructure damage, and major disruptions across several regions. As of Monday, authorities reported at least 52 fatalities and nine missing persons. Hundreds have been injured, more than 16,000 residents have been displaced, and over 400,000 people have been affected nationwide.
The destruction to housing has been extensive. Officials estimate that approximately 25,000 homes were completely destroyed, 48,000 were damaged, and 25,000 were flooded. Critical infrastructure, including roads, electricity networks, and port facilities, has also sustained significant damage, further complicating relief efforts.
After tearing across Madagascar over the weekend, Cyclone Gezani continued westward into the Mozambique Channel. On Saturday, the system passed about 15 kilometers offshore from the coast of Inhambane Province as a tropical cyclone. It then curved eastward, approaching western Madagascar again.
By Monday morning, the cyclone’s center was located over the sea, approximately 270 kilometers west of the Atsimo-Andrefana region. By then, it had weakened to a Category 1 tropical cyclone, but it continued to pose a threat due to heavy rainfall and strong winds.
Emergency response teams are active throughout the affected areas, and authorities are warning of ongoing risks of flooding, landslides, and damaged infrastructure. After back-to-back storms hit the island in less than two weeks, the need for humanitarian assistance has increased rapidly.
Communities in coastal and inland districts have had their homes and public facilities destroyed and now have limited access to essential services. The two cyclones have also hit Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, with flooding in low-lying districts due to heavy rains and blocked canals. The flooding has affected 33,000 people and poses a high risk of river overflow and landslides.
Before the second cyclone made landfall, the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated $3 million to six UN agencies in Madagascar for anticipatory action. This funding allowed humanitarian organizations to support over 93,000 vulnerable people who were most at risk of severe impacts from the cyclone.
On Friday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) stressed that approximately 400,000 people are facing acute humanitarian needs after the island was hit by back-to-back cyclones within three weeks.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva from Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, WFP Country Director Tania Goossens said, the "scale of the destruction is really overwhelming."
Goossens recently returned from a mission to Toamasina, also known as Tamatave, where Cyclone Gezani made landfall on Tuesday evening with wind gusts of up to 250 kilometers per hour.
According to the authorities, 80 percent of the city has suffered damage, and Goossens said it is currently operating with only five percent of its usual electricity.
“There's no water and one of WFP’s warehouses and our office was also completely destroyed during the cyclone,” she added.
The official from the UN agency said that many families have left their homes and that buildings, businesses, schools, and the city’s hospital sustained “severe” damage.
“During my visit, I saw families trying to recover the little that was left of their home,” she recounted.
“Many are spending the night in homes where the roofs have been torn off.”
Goossens said that uprooted trees and debris are blocking streets across the city, and fuel is difficult to come by.
“Families are telling us that they have lost everything,” she stressed.
“Many are sheltering in damaged homes or temporary sites and uncertain about how they can access their next meal.”
In addition to the urgent need for food, Goossens highlighted humanitarian concerns about water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions. A lack of safe drinking water and damaged infrastructure raise the risk of disease outbreaks. She also mentioned rising protection concerns for vulnerable groups, such as women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.
In anticipation of the storm, WFP and its partners provided cash assistance to vulnerable households, enabling them to purchase food and prepare before the cyclone struck.
Goossens explained that the UN agency is now mobilizing its “last food stocks,” which will be distributed in coordination with national disaster relief teams.
However, the needs on the ground exceed WFP's capacity, and the agency is calling for urgent donor support.
The latest disaster "comes on top of an already very critical food security situation," Goossens said.
Before the back-to-back cyclones, 1.64 million people across the country were food insecure, including 110,000 facing emergency levels of hunger, based on the latest data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed global food security monitoring system.
“We're also in the peak of the lean season here in Madagascar and funding shortfalls remain alarming […] Our lean season response as well as cyclone response faces a $18 million gap over the next six months,” the WFP official warned.
“We will need […] sustained support over the coming months to help people recover, to rebuild and strengthen their resilience against further shocks,” she added.
“In fact, we are in at the start of the cyclone season. So, we are also concerned that this is only just the beginning.”
Madagascar is experiencing consecutive cyclones, which have cut off communities from food, basic health services, and other necessities. The country has been hit by two destructive storms within just ten days, compounding the crisis. Preliminary data from authorities show that Tropical Cyclone Gezani affected more than 400,000 people, whereas Cyclone Fitya affected over 200,000.
The southeastern African country is highly vulnerable to natural disasters, including tropical cyclones, droughts, and floods. Madagascar is one of the countries most exposed to natural hazards and ranks high in global assessments of vulnerability to climate change.
In recent years, the country has experienced a series of disasters causing death, destruction, and displacement. Since 2022, Madagascar has experienced several devastating tropical cyclones, each leaving a trail of destruction and displacement. These cyclones have severely impacted the country, claiming numerous lives, displacing thousands, and affecting millions.
Notable storms that made landfall or severely affected the country include Tropical Cyclone Jude in March 2025, Tropical Cyclone Chido in December 2024, Tropical Cyclone Gamane in March 2024, Tropical Cyclone Freddy—which hit the region twice, in February and March of 2023—and Tropical Cyclone Gombe in March 2022.
Over the next 24 hours, more rainfall and a storm surge are expected in southern Madagascar, and heavy rainfall is forecast in Mozambique.
As of Monday, at least four people have died and five have been injured in Mozambique. The government activated anticipatory actions, prepositioning 254 metric tons of food. The Mozambican government's announcement triggered the disbursement of $4.5 million in CERF funding to UN agencies.