Tropical Cyclone Dumako slams into Madagascar

 

Madagascar braces for another tropical storm only 10 days after Cyclone Batsirai killed at least 121 people.

Tropical Cyclone Dumako is on track to hit the country’s northeast on Tuesday, said Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Cyclone Batsirai hit Madagascar’s southeast the Feb. 5 weekend, displacing 29,000 people and destroying, flooding or damaging almost 19,000 homes.

“Health teams have been deployed to affected areas where they are working in collaboration with the government to scale up the response,” Dujarric said. “Food partners are providing both cash assistance and in-kind food assistance.”

When food markets are not working, there is not enough local food available, or victims cannot access markets, in-kind food assistance frequently is distributed.

The spokesman said the World Food Programme has distributed unconditional cash transfers to help impacted families for the next three months. The United Nations’ health partners have also supported the resumption of health services and rehabilitate cyclone-damaged medical facilities.

“Our friends at UNICEF (the UN Children’s Fund) have provided medicine for the treatment of nearly 50,000 cases of Malaria and are also supporting the repair of cold chains for vaccines and essential medicine,” Dujarric said.