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The Daily Ittefaq

Ten killed by floods in Madagascar capital

Update : 19 Jan 2022, 09:52

At least 10 people have died in flash floods caused by heavy rains that hit Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo overnight, according to Interior Ministry officials.

Sonia Rey, a spokesman for the ministry’s disaster management department, told AFP that the victims died after “the flood caused a landslide and collapsed houses.”

Heavy rain had not only triggered floods but also had caused many deaths, displacements and destruction of properties and infrastructure even as the county continues to struggle with COVID-19.

Two people have been injured and more than 500 displaced by the storm, according to preliminary figures released by the National Bureau of Disaster Risk Management (BNGRC).

Approximately 20 districts around the capital’s 1.3 million people are on the alert for floods, and urban areas with poor drainage systems are seen as particularly vulnerable.

Rescue teams have been mobilised to evacuate areas at risk and prepare gymnasiums and other temporary shelters for those left homeless.

Madagascans shared pictures on social media on social media on a flooded street, flooded with muddy water up to their thighs and washed away with wooden huts.

Some are sitting on the surrounding walls, while others carry their children on flooded roads.

“In Madagascar, floods are common, especially during the rainy season (October / April), but yesterday was very heavy, 105.3 millimeters a day,” said weather forecaster Lovandrainy Ratovoharisoa.

"Cyclones are expected to occur on weekends on the east coast," stated Ratovoharisoa.

Rainfall is expected to peak on Thursday, but will continue until the end of the month.

The country’s rainy season predicament is not over yet.

The tropical Indian Ocean nation and the former French colony off the southeastern coast of Africa are in the midst of a six-month rainy season, often causing casualties and widespread damage. 

 

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