In Madagascar, Freddy, the very intense tropical cyclone which hit the east coast of the island on the evening of Tuesday February 21, finally emerged in the Mozambique Channel yesterday mid-afternoon. The “catastrophic scenario” initially planned in the simulations did not take place.
With our correspondent in Madagascar, Sarah Tetaud
The latest assessment of Freddy’s passage in Madagascar reports 7 dead and 69,000 victims with damage, mainly to homes at the point of impact, in the coastal district of Mananjary and in several agricultural areas. If the “catastrophic scenario” initially planned in the simulations has not taken place, the authorities are careful not to speak of ” relief » as long as the collection of information carried out in the wake of the cyclone is not finalized. However, new challenges already seem to be emerging.
Shaved fields
The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management is concerned about the state of crops. Localized rains, less violent than those expected, caused flooding. But it is above all the winds, very violent on the passage of Freddy, which caused the majority of the damage. They razed some fields and bent fruit trees, the very ones that had difficulty resisting Batsirai and Emnati, the two big cyclones of 2022. Breadfruit trees, in particular, which serve as lean food during the off-season, have were particularly decimated around the impact area. This raises fears of food safety issues.
” Uncertainty about the future »
On the humanitarian side, what worries emergency response specialists are the impacts on the psycho-social health of the inhabitants, who have just experienced three violent cyclones in the space of a year. ” Fear of dying, anguish of losing everything in an instant, discouragement in the face of the scale of what must be rebuilt, uncertainty about the future », the traumas left by the successive cyclones are numerous. ” This damage cannot be seen, but it is nevertheless a real public health issue. “, wanted to alert, yesterday, Wednesday, February 22, Doctors of the world in Madagascar, whose teams have already been able to provide first aid to Freddy’s victims.
►Also read : “The damage is considerable”: several dead after the passage of cyclone Freddy in Madagascarr