At least 9 people were killed in Madagascar as a result of Tropical Cyclone Jizani, which struck the island located in the Indian Ocean.

Antananarivo, Madagascar — At least 20 people have died after Tropical Cyclone Jizani made landfall in Madagascar’s main port city and collapsed homes in Indian Ocean islandWednesday, authorities said.

Wind speeds exceeded 195 kilometers per hour (121 miles per hour), and the Madagascar Meteorological Service issued red alerts for several regions warning of the possibility of floods and landslides as Gizany moves. Across the Big Island 31 million people, many of whom live in poverty and do not have adequate storm shelter.

Madagascar is particularly vulnerable to cyclones that blow off the Indian Ocean, and was hit by another deadly cyclone less than two weeks ago.

The National Risk and Disaster Management Office said building collapses killed at least 20 people and injured at least 33 others when Jizani made landfall late Tuesday in the eastern city of Toamasina. The agency said 15 people were missing and more than 2,700 people had been evacuated.

Toamasina, which has a population of about 300,000, suffered severe damage, residents told The Associated Press. The authorities said that the majority of deaths were in that area.

President Michael Randrianrina, who took power Military coup In October, he visited Toamasina to inspect the damage and meet with residents, according to videos posted on his office’s Facebook page. Videos showed neighborhoods, homes and businesses flooded, with windows blown out and roofs blown off, and trees and other debris strewn in the streets.

Randrianirina’s office said about 75% of the city’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed.

“It’s devastation. The roofs were blown off, the walls collapsed, the electricity poles fell, and the trees were uprooted. The scene looks like a disaster,” Michel, a resident who only gives his first name, said by phone.

Electricity has been out of Toamasina since Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Jizani moved west across Madagascar, becoming a tropical storm as it moved inland, according to the National Weather Service. The storm passed about 100 kilometers north of the capital, Antananarivo, one of the areas under a red warning for possible floods.

Meteorology showed that Jizani is expected to move into the channel between Madagascar and the eastern coast of Africa on Thursday, and warned that it may turn into a tropical cyclone again and then return towards the southwestern coast of Madagascar next week.

On January 31, Tropical Cyclone Vitya killed 14 people in Madagascar and displaced more than 85,000 others, according to the disaster management agency.

The United Nations has released $3 million from its emergency response fund to help Madagascar prepare for the impacts of Cyclone Djizani, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.

The cyclone season in Madagascar runs from approximately November to March and causes frequent weather disasters in one of them The poorest countries in the worldwhich barely has time to recover before another one strikes.

Madagascar, the world’s fourth-largest island, has been affected by more than a dozen tropical storms or cyclones since 2020. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction says they cause an estimated $85 million worth of damage to infrastructure every year, hampering the country’s development.

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