ANTANANARIVO, 9 Mar – Madagascar has been hit by its second killer storm of the season. Tropical Storm Irina caused 65 deaths, most of them residents of the Ifanadiana district in the southeast of the island, and affected more than 70,000 people in all. Most casualties have been caused by landslides and flooding, following heavy rainfall.

In February Tropical Storm Giovanna also hit the island, claiming the lives of 35 people, injuring 284 and leaving a further 250,000 people affected by its impact.

MapAction is deploying a team of volunteers at the request of the Madagascar Government’s National Bureau of Risk and Disaster Management, to boost the agency’s own GIS capability which is working at full stretch responding to the two large-scale events, with more rains forecast.

MapAction’s Operations Director Jonathan Douch said: “Although Madagascar has good capacity to coordinate disaster response, they have been hit hard by storms this year and asked for our help with their coordinated response across several disaster zones.”

This is MapAction’s first mission to Madagascar, however the charity has responded in the past to nine crises across sub-Saharan Africa, including the current food crisis in the Sahel region.

(Photo: Madagascar Tribune)