at least 214 dead during hurricane season, says UN

“Six tropical weather phenomena hit Madagascar between January and April.” Successive tropical storms and cyclones on the island have claimed at least 214 lives and “about 571,100 people in the country”said Tuesday, May 31, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The cyclone season in southern Africa generally runs from October-November to April. In January, Tropical Storm Ana brought heavy rain and flooding to the big island in the Indian Ocean. Fifty-five people were killed and around 131,500 affected mainly in the center and north.

In February, cyclones Batsirai and Emnati hit the east coast in quick succession. Thousands of homes have been destroyed, crops devastated, increasing food insecurity in the region. Some 136 people died, 423,800 affected. Occurring between the two cyclones, tropical storm Dumako affected the northeast in mid-February. Fourteen people died in floods. Finally in early March, Storm Gombe did no significant damage but the moderate tropical storm Jasmine which followed in late April killed five people.

At the same time, the situation in a large area of ​​the south hit by severe drought remained critical. More than 61% of the region remained affected by an extreme drought at the end of February, according to Unicef ​​quoted in the press release.