Each year Madagascar faces a period of intense and often deadly rains. Floods are common in Madagascar, especially in the rainy season between October and April but this year they have been exceptionally heavy.

Although it is the cyclone season in the Indian Ocean, it is rare to see four storms hitting Madagascar in the space of four weeks.

In January and February heavy rains and 4 cyclones Ana, Batsirai, Dumako and Emnati caused nearly 200 deaths and thousands of victims.

The first tropical storm hit Madagascar in the second half of January after the island had already experienced several days of rains. The majority of those made homeless by the floods were in the capital’s Analamanga area, where many low-lying neighborhoods were near flooded rivers. Cyclone Ana killed 55 people and displaced 130,000 in a different area of the country, further north.  Unfortunatelly some of the households of the children under our care have suffered too.

It also affected 126,265 hectares with serious concern about the impact on crop production and food security. Many households impacted by tropical storm Ana are expected to face stress and crisis levels of food security in the upcoming months.

Few weeks after cyclone Ana another cyclone Batsirai with gale-force winds reaching peaks of 145 miles per hour made its landfall near Mananjary, 310 miles east of the capital Antananarivo.

Residents of Mananjary  reported that the cyclone had caused widespread damage by blowing the roofs off homes, knocking down trees and utility poles, making roads impassable and flooding many areas.

Batsirai made the country situation worse by destroying crops of rice, fruits and vegetables that were just two weeks away from harvest.

The cyclone caused widespread flooding and made 12 roads and 14 bridges impassable, cutting off some of the worst affected areas and impeding efforts to bring relief to local communities.

The death toll reached to 124 and left 270,000 people with destroyed or damaged homes.

Mananjary, a town hit the hardest by the cyclone  has been devastated. A local hospital stopped functioning and five health centers were completely destroyed in the area.

We have received a request for a help from five orphanages. Thanks to a generosity of our donnors we were able to send over for each centre:

  150 kg of rice

50 kg dried beans

12 kg powder milk

40l of oil

baby formula

soap and other hygine products

solar lamps sets

50 kg of clothes.

Thank you for your constant care for Children of Madagascar.