On February 22 at six o’clock in the morning, Cyclone Haruna made landfall in southwestern Madagascar. The storm went across the island over a period of 24 hours, bringing with it extreme winds up to 200 km/h.
CARE Madagascar organized a helicopter over flight to get a better picture of the destruction caused by Haruna. John Uniack Davis, Country Director of CARE Madagascar describes the situation: “Along the path from Morombe to Tulear, there has been major crop damage. Apparently roughly one-third of food crop surface area is corn and two-thirds rice, and it seems that almost all of the corn observed in coastal areas had been blown down. 48-60 hours after the passage of the cyclone, at least two-thirds of rice paddies were flooded. If this does not get drained very, very soon, there will be major losses to the rice crop.” At least one-third of the city of Tulear is still under water, and the whole city is without power.
According to the Government of Madagascar, more than 22,00 people are affected by Haruna’s destruction. The CARE team saw schools and other public buildings that had lost their roofs. Many homes were destroyed as well, leaving many families homeless. “People will certainly need plastic sheeting to quickly repair their houses. As usual in such emergencies, women-headed households, the elderly, and all those without the means or manual labor are most affected since they are often unable to rebuild their homes quickly”, says Davis. On the day Haruna hit Madagascar, CARE shipped plastic sheeting and other basic relief items to the affected area and started distributing it to the most affected people today.
ABOUT CARE: Founded in 1945, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty and providing lifesaving assistance in emergencies. CARE places special focus on working alongside poor girls and women because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to help lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty.