At least 62 people have died and 13 remain missing following Cyclone Gezani, which struck Madagascar’s second-largest city, Toamasina, head-on on February 10, according to a new official toll released Thursday.
Most of Gezani’s victims were recorded in the city of Toamasina, which has around 400,000 inhabitants, according to updated figures published Thursday by the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management. A previous report had put the death toll at 59.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported Thursday that 35,000 people have been displaced and 382,000 are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
The damage to housing is extensive: 25,000 homes have been destroyed, along with more than 750 classrooms.
Cyclone Gezani continued on its path toward Mozambique. Even while remaining about 50 km off the coast, it caused at least four deaths and significant damage in the Inhambane region, a coastal city in the south of the country with around 100,000 inhabitants.
