Day: February 22, 2023

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Winds lash Madagascar’s coast as Cyclone Freddy makes landfall

At least one person has died after a tropical cyclone battered Madagascar’s east coast, with heavy rain and powerful winds tearing roofs off houses and triggering a storm surge.

Cyclone Freddy made landfall on Tuesday, weeks after another tropical storm killed 33 and left thousands without shelter.

Schools have been shut and traffic has been suspended.

Earlier, Freddy caused some damage in Mauritius, flooding beachside hotels.

The Indian Ocean island nation is particularly vulnerable to cyclones. It is hit by an average of 1.5 cyclones every year, the highest rate in Africa, according to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The cyclone slightly weakened once it made landfall on Madagascar, situated off the south-east coast of Africa, with wind gusts exceeding 130km/h (81mph). The country’s meteorological service warned that torrential rains would continue along its path.

“The sea remains very rough… and a significant risk of coastal flooding will continue overnight,” it said.

A 27-year-old man drowned near the port of Mahanoro before the storm made landfall, officials said.

Officials also said 7,000 people had been pre-emptively evacuated from the coastal region directly in Freddy’s path, and warnings waves could reach over 8m (26ft) were issued by the International Federation of Red Cross.

Some people used sandbags to weigh down their roofs as a precaution.

Last month the powerful storm Cheneso smashed into north-eastern Madagascar bringing in heavy winds and triggering downpours that caused extensive flooding, and killing at least 33 people and forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes.

Mananjary is still recovering from devastation caused by last year’s Cyclone Batsirai, which killed more than 130 people across Madagascar. —

Source: Nam News Network

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Update: Cyclone Freddy toll rises to four in Madagascar

— The death toll from tropical Cyclone Freddy that lashed the eastern coast of Madagascar has risen to four, officials said on Wednesday.

The storm, which packed winds of around 130 kilometres per hour (80 miles per hour), affected 16,600 people, according to the national risk and catastrophes bureau BNGRC. —

Source: Nam News Network

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Cyclone Freddy hits Madagascar, four killed

(AFP) – Powerful tropical Cyclone Freddy tore through parts of Madagascar on Wednesday, killing four people on the Indian Ocean island, disaster management authorities said.

A 27-year-old man drowned in rising sea waters on Tuesday just before the storm, which packed winds of around 130 kilometres per hour (80 miles per hour), made landfall.

But on Wednesday authorities put the toll at four.

The storm has affected 16,600 people, according to the country’s National Risk Management Office (BNGRC).

It brought less rains than feared, but strong winds ripped roofs off buildings and flattened rice fields and fruit trees.

The storm landed north of Mananjary, a coastal town of 25,000 people that remains devastated by last year’s Cyclone Batsirai, which killed more than 130 people across Madagascar.

“It’s a dry cyclone compared to Batsirai, so it brought less rains, but the winds were stronger, this why infrastructure was badly affected,” risk management senior official Faly Aritiana Fabien told AFP.

“The recorded damage is almost only related to the wind,” said Fabien.

– ‘Can’t take this’ –

By daybreak in Mananjary residents were out on the streets to assess the damage and salvage what they could, witnesses said.

Despite thousands of sandbags used to reinforce roofs, metal sheets were strewn onto the ground by the force of the wind.

The 27-year-old man drowned near the port of Mahanoro, to the north of Mananjary, said the BNGRC.

Fabien said Freddy was “one of the strongest cyclones” to hit the island, which is typically lashed several times during the annual November-April storm season.

Pascal Salle, from Mananjary, sobbed as he assessed the damage after hardly recovering from last year’s cyclone Batsirai.

“I didn’t think there was a more powerful cyclone than Batsirai,” he said. “My fence is down, my 1,000-litre plastic water tank smashed against the neighbour’s wall”.

A window was ripped off his house and the garden transformed into “a sandy field”, he said.

“I can’t take this every year, it’s not possible,” he said.

– Mozambique next –

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) estimates more than 2.3 million people in Madagascar could be affected by Freddy and that the cyclone will then pass through Mozambique and Zimbabwe on the African mainland.

Authorities said that Madagascar, which is accustomed to cyclones and tropical storms, had put measures in place to minimise loss of lives.

Several regions on Tuesday suspended school classes for the rest of the week, the education ministry said.

At least 8,000 people were evacuated as a precaution in the Mananjary district but were expected to return to their homes in a day or two.

Freddy is the first cyclone and the second tropical weather system to hit during the current season, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

Monitors have described Freddy as one of the longest lasting storms of recent times, skirting past Reunion Island and Mauritius late Monday without causing major damage.

Freddy developed during the first week of February in the northwest of Australia and south of Indonesia and is in its third week trekking across the Indian Ocean.

Mozambique is forecast to take a direct hit by Friday, according to the UN disaster coordination, where an estimated 500,000 people could be impacted.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

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Seychelles and India sign agreement on information sharing in maritime security

Maritime safety and security within the Indian Ocean are set to increase and will benefit Seychelles as two centres dealing with and coordinating maritime information exchange signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday.

The MoU was signed by the director of the Seychelles-based Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC), Sam Gonthier, and done virtually by the director of the India-based Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), Rohit Bajpai.

Effective for two years from the date of signing, the agreement aims to promote maritime safety and security collaboration, as well as exchange cooperation of personnel, information, technology, and best practices.

Both parties will be able to share information and develop capabilities through training in operational information-sharing, maritime domain awareness, and sharing of best practices through the conduct of seminars, workshops, and or tabletop exercises on maritime security, safety, and information sharing.

Gonthier said that since the pirates in the Indian Ocean have changed their operations from piracy to drug and human trafficking, the collaboration will allow for more presence in the region, and benefit Seychelles.

“We have seen an increase in drug trafficking, illegal migration, human trafficking, and illegal wildlife trade, as well as IUU (Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated ) fishing. Having more partners in maritime security means that we get more information coming in, allowing us to know where these illegal vessels are and respond. We already have partners such as the EUNAVFOR, the UK as well as all the signatory countries. India has a lot more vessels than all the partners put together and as such, they can help us with patrolling when we need such,” said Gonthier.

He said that as Seychelles has a vast territory of 1.4 million square kilometres ,”we are unable to patrol all this territory and as such with new partners, we have the ability to patrol more.”

In his address at the virtual signing of the MoU, IFC-IOR’s Bajpai acknowledged the pivotal role being played by RCOC in coordination with the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre towards strengthening the regional maritime security architecture in the western Indian Ocean region.

He outlined that with “the Indian Ocean’s status as an international trade highway becoming more significant than ever before” the number of challenges that accompany this are also increasing.

“Maritime security in the Indian Ocean region necessitates continued collaboration and information sharing,” he said.

In 2018, seven neighbouring states of the western Indian Ocean signed two agreements to establish an architecture for maritime security to promote collaboration and improve maritime security in the region.

This led to the establishment of the Regional Coordination operation Centre and the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre based in Madagascar. The MAZE agreements as they are called, make provision for partnership with the wider region.

It is within this context that the MAZE Agreement steering committee approved the signature of an MoU with the IFC-IOR in December 2021.

Gonthier shared that countries such as Somalia, Yemen, Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, and Namibia are also interested in entering the MAZE Programme.

Source: Seychelles News Agency