[WATCH]: Cyclone Emnati Makes Landfall in Madagascar

After passing just north of Mauritius, Cyclone Emnati started making its way towards the southeast coast of Madagascar. Where it hit the coastline close to midnight last night with wind speeds of around 100 kilometers per hour and gusts of 140 kilometers per hour. According to Faly Aritiana Fabien, a senior official of the National Risk Management Office, the storm hit “around 2300 GMT just north of the southeastern district of Manakara”. Luckily it had weakened significantly since reaching its peak strength on Sunday.

Nonetheless, the storm ripped the roofs off buildings and destroyed many structures. And with the heavy rainfall, there is a serious threat of destructive flooding to come. Authorities have warned residents to expect strong gusts, torrential rains and possibly widespread flooding. At least until later today when the cyclone exits the island. As of yet, there have been no casualties reported.

Battered by Cyclones

Cyclone season is generally between the months of November and April, but this season has been a particularly tough one for the island of Madagascar. With Cyclone Ana hitting towards the end of January, displacing over 100 000 people. Followed by the massive category four cyclone Batsirai which claimed over 120 lives. And now cyclone Emnati has also hit Madagascar, a storm for which more than 30,000 people evacuated.

As a result, this already poor country is now concerned about what the future brings. Especially in terms of food, since the last few storms have successfully destroyed many food crops. Between the storms and the draught, the World Food Programme says, “At least 1.3 million people in Southern Madagascar need emergency food and nutrition assistance”. What’s more, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has forecast that the proportion of intense tropical cyclones will increase.