Madagascar - Tropical Cyclone Enawo, the first of the cyclonic season – and the strongest of the last 13 years –  made landfall on the north-eastern coast of Madagascar on the morning of 7 March 2017 and crossed the island to its southern end, causing havoc across the country.

The cyclone’s impact has resulted in humanitarian needs concentrated in the north-east of the country. As of 20 March, the national Disaster Risk Management Authority reported 433,985 persons directly affected, a total of 247,219 persons having been displaced, 40,520 houses destroyed, 250 injured, 81 fatalities and 18 persons missing.

About 96 percent of the reported houses destroyed are concentrated in the SAVA and Analanjirofo regions. While displaced persons in those regions have mostly left the displacement sites and started to rebuild their houses, the majority of affected households do not have the means to conduct and sustain the emergency shelter repairs needed.

As of 20 March, 5,293 persons still remained displaced in communal sites. While the caseload (which peaked on 14 March at 79,586 persons displaced in some 220-plus mostly communal sites) significantly dropped in recent days, many displaced individuals are still unable to return to their villages of origin as their houses have been totally destroyed or are still affected by the flooding. They had to leave their areas of origin with very few belongings and now find themselves with very limited capacity to recover by their own means.

The IOM appeal for USD 2.08 million will cover the emergency needs of the remaining 5,293 displaced persons and emergency shelter support to 6,000 most affected households in the regions of SAVA and Analanjirofo. IOM, in coordination with humanitarian stakeholders and partners in Madagascar, proposes to provide targeted displacement monitoring and displacement sites management and coordination support; as well as robust emergency shelter packages, and technical assistance for safer construction.

Daniel Silva y Poveda, IOM Madagascar Head of Office, underlined that, “Although the cyclone caused less damage than initially expected, the capacity to track the needs of the residual displaced populations, to coordinate and manage displacement sites remains inconsistent. This can lead to unnecessary prolonged displacement and increased vulnerability to forms of abuse and exploitation, including trafficking in persons. Adequate safe temporary shelter is critical to ensure the safety, health, dignity and well-being of people.”

He added that, “For those families that have returned to their damaged or destroyed homes and have started to put the pieces back together, the vulnerability of these affected households will remain high and hamper their capacity to recover, if emergency shelter support is not provided.”

The Madagascar March 2017 Flash Appeal can be found here.

For further information, please contact Daniel Silva y Poveda at IOM Madagascar, Tel: +261.325654954, Email: dsilva@iom.int