Madagascan Cyclone death toll rises to 111

The death toll from the devastating Cyclone Batsirai that hit Indian Ocean Island of Madagascar in the past one week, has risen to 111, according to official media reports on Friday.

The Cyclone Batsirai which brought winds as high as 235km/h (146mph) and destroyed many communities in the country, have also buried homes with many residents still declared missing.

The Madagascan National Emergency Agency confirmed that many people have also died since homes “simply crumpled in the ferocious winds, leaving around 30,000 people living in emergency shelters.”

An independent humanitarian organisation in South Africa also said in a report that nations in the region were already reeling from January’s Tropical Storm Ana before they were hit by Cyclone Batsirai.

READ ALSO: 10 killed, 48,000 displaced as cyclone wipes out Madagascan village

“Storms are common in this part of the world but the climate crisis has caused them to become more destructive.

“It has also worsened drought, which has hit southern Madagascar hard, in turn making the humanitarian response after these storms even more urgent.

“In Madagascar, 87 of the 111 deaths resulting from Cyclone Batsirai were in the south-eastern district of Ikongo, the national disaster agency says.

“55 people were killed by Tropical Storm Ana in another part of Madagascar further north, which makes this a disaster of high proportion.”

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