Overwhelming Destruction after Cyclone Gezani: WFP
Cyclone Gezani Wrecks Madagascar’s Main Port City
Antananarivo/Geneva: Cyclone Gezani has unleashed what the United Nations has described as “overwhelming destruction” across Madagascar’s eastern coast, devastating the country’s main port and second-largest city and pushing hundreds of thousands of people into acute humanitarian need after a second powerful storm struck within weeks.
The cyclone made landfall on Tuesday evening, 10 February 2026, near the port city of Toamasina, also known as Tamatave, with wind gusts of up to 250 kilometres per hour. The storm hit barely ten days after tropical cyclone Fytia had already brought heavy rains and flooding to parts of the island, compounding damage and severely straining response efforts.
Speaking from the capital Antananarivo, Tania Goossens, Country Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), said some 400,000 people are now facing acute humanitarian needs following the back-to-back cyclones that struck Madagascar in the space of three weeks. She had recently returned from a mission to Toamasina, where she witnessed widespread devastation.
“The scale of the destruction is really overwhelming,” Goossens said, adding that according to national authorities, around 80 per cent of the city has suffered damage and that it is currently operating on roughly five per cent of its normal electricity supply. She said there is no running water in many areas and that the cyclone completely destroyed one of WFP’s warehouses and its local office.
Initial official assessments report at least 38 deaths and 374 people injured, while several others remain missing. Large numbers of residents have been forced to leave their homes amid severe damage to houses, businesses, schools and the city’s main hospital. Uprooted trees and debris blanket major streets, blocking traffic and hampering rescue and relief operations. Fuel has become difficult to obtain, further complicating logistics in a city that serves as Madagascar’s primary maritime gateway for imports and humanitarian supplies.
Goossens said she saw families attempting to recover the little that remained of their homes and belongings during her visit. Many were spending nights in buildings whose roofs had been torn away, while others were sheltering in temporary sites. Residents told aid workers they had lost everything and were uncertain how they would access their next meal.
Beyond the urgent need for food assistance, humanitarian agencies have expressed growing concern about water, sanitation and hygiene conditions, warning that damaged infrastructure and the lack of clean water increase the risk of disease outbreaks. Protection concerns are also rising for vulnerable groups, including women, children, the elderly and persons with disabilities, as displacement and shortages expose them to greater risks.
Authorities say more than 16,000 people have been displaced and over 18,000 homes damaged or destroyed. Telecommunications and transport links have been disrupted across wide areas of the east coast, while power and water outages continue to affect large sections of Toamasina and surrounding districts.
Ahead of the cyclone’s arrival, WFP and partner organisations had provided cash assistance to the most vulnerable households so they could purchase food and prepare for the storm’s impact. The agency is now mobilising its last remaining food stocks, which are being distributed in coordination with national disaster response teams. However, Goossens warned that current resources are insufficient to meet the scale of need and that urgent donor support is required.
The latest disaster has struck an already fragile country struggling with chronic food insecurity. Even before the two cyclones, around 1.57 million people across Madagascar were classified as food insecure, including 84,000 facing emergency levels of hunger, according to the latest data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). The country is also entering the peak of its lean season, when food supplies are typically at their lowest and prices at their highest.
WFP estimates that its combined lean-season and cyclone response faces a funding shortfall of approximately 18 million dollars over the next six months. Goossens said sustained international support would be essential not only to address immediate humanitarian needs but also to help communities recover, rebuild and strengthen resilience against future shocks. She warned that the cyclone season has only just begun, raising fears that further storms could worsen the crisis.
After crossing Madagascar, Cyclone Gezani weakened inland but is forecast to re-intensify over the Mozambique Channel, with neighbouring Mozambique now preparing for possible impact. Regional authorities and humanitarian agencies remain on alert as Madagascar grapples with one of its most severe storm emergencies in recent years.
– global bihari bureau
