The northeast of Madagascar has been hit since Thursday by a strong tropical storm Cheneso mainly in the districts of Maroantsetra and Antsiranana II, in the region of Analanjiro and SAVA.
Cheneso is the first tropical storm of the 2022-2023 hurricane season which takes place annually from October to April to affect Madagascar. After making landfall, the storm headed southwest, with winds of 90 km/h and tastes of up to 120 km/h. According to the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management, the storm caused more than 2,000 victims and 214 displaced people.
The latest forecasts from Météo Madagascar announce that the cyclone should go out to sea very weak around the beginning of next week. Nevertheless, the regions of Diana, Sava, and Analanjiro along the northeast coast are still on red alert while those of Alaotra-Mangoro, Atsinana, and Sofia located in eastern Madagascar are on yellow warning.
Furthermore, The national airline Madagascar Airlines has decided to cancel its flights serving Antananarivo and Maroantsetra.
Nearly 540,000 people live in areas exposed to winds of 90 km/h. In comparison, nearly 3 million people reside in areas likely to be affected by winds of up to 60 km/h, according to the Automated Disaster Analysis and Mapping (ADAM) from the World Food Program (WFP).