Authorities said at least 25 people were confirmed dead and more than 37,000 were evacuated as a result of Cyclone Cheneso.
Official records show more than two dozen Madagascans have died and tens of thousands have been left homeless since a severe tropical storm made landfall last week and swept the island’s west coast for days.
Cyclone Cheneso made landfall in northeastern Madagascar 10 days ago, bringing with it strong winds and heavy rain causing widespread flooding.
During the week, it moved southeast, damaging homes and schools and cutting off several highways.
25 people are now known to have died and another 21 are still missing, according to an update from Madagascar’s Office of Disaster and Risk Management on Sunday.
At least 83,181 people have been affected, with nearly 38,000 displaced.
More than 23,600 homes were flooded and at least 500 others were completely destroyed, the office of disaster management said in an earlier update Friday night.
Cheneso – which has temporarily strengthened into a tropical storm in recent days with winds of 118-166 km/h (73-103 mph) – “has begun to lose its purely tropical character ”, according to the Southwest Indian Ocean Regional Specialized Meteorological Center. based on the French overseas island La Reunion.
Cheneso made landfall on January 19, bringing winds of up to 110 km/h (68.3 mph).
It was the first tropical cyclone of the current storm season in South Africa – which usually runs from November to April – to make landfall on the large island in the Indian Ocean, where storms are frequent.
In recent years, Madagascar and Mozambique have been repeatedly hit by severe storms and cyclones that have destroyed homes, infrastructure and crops, and displaced large numbers of people.
In January and February of last year, four major storms made landfall in Madagascar, kill at least 138 people, destroyed 124,000 houses and displaced about 130,000 people.
