Some 600,000 people could be affected by cyclone Batsirai in Madagascar, a few days after tropical storm Ana which left tens of thousands of people homeless, the UN warned on Friday February 4.
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"
The United Nations and our humanitarian partners are stepping up their preparedness efforts in anticipation of Tropical Cyclone Batsirai which is expected to make landfall in Madagascar this weekend after passing through Mauritius
," said a spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Foreign Affairs. humanitarian organizations (Ocha), Jens Laerke, during a press briefing.
The impact of Cyclone Batsirai is expected to be "
considerable
", he said, including in areas still recovering from Storm Ana.
A deadly storm in Madgascar, Mozambique and Malawi
This tropical storm killed nearly 90 people last week in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi.
Every year during the hurricane season (from November to April), about ten low-pressure systems (storms or cyclones) cross the south-west of the Indian Ocean, from east to west.
According to Pasqualina Di Sirio, director of the World Food Program (WFP) for Madagascar, the new cyclone could affect more than 600,000 people, including 150,000 displaced on the island.
"
It's a major crisis
," she told reporters.
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Under the leadership of the authorities, the United Nations is preparing for the cyclone, pre-deploying search and rescue teams and preparing stockpiles of supplies, while planes are ready to intervene as needed to support the humanitarian response. .
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which estimates that around 4.4 million people are threatened in one way or another, is also mobilized.
"
The teams and partners of the Malagasy Red Cross are on alert and are deployed within the communities
", explained its secretary general Andoniaina Ratsimamanga, adding that emergency stocks as well as accommodation centers for emergency are being put in place.
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Batsirai should hit the east coast of Madagascar and in particular the Mahanoro region, forecasts Météo-France, possibly still at the stage of an intense tropical cyclone.
“
It will start to have impacts today, with sea waves 8 to 15 meters high.
A storm surge of up to 1.50 meters in height is possible in the most affected coastal areas
”, with risks of coastal flooding, said a spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Clare Nullis.
