At least 17 dead following Tropical Cyclone Eliakim's destruction in Madagascar
Tropical Cyclone Eliakim claimed the lives of at least 17 people in Madagascar as the storm produced flooding and mudslides in the country this past weekend.
The storm battered areas that were hit by Tropical Cyclone Dumazile earlier in March and Tropical Cyclone Ava in January.
The number of fatalities may rise as more reports come in from rural areas.
The Bureau for Risk and Disaster Management announced that the tropical cyclone also affected 15,000 people and destroyed 648 homes while more than a thousand other homes damaged.
The hardest-hit regions included Sofia, Analanjirofo, Atsinanana, Alaotra-Mangoro, and Vatovavy-Fitovinany.
Eight schools have been damaged and unable to reopen following the storm. Some 43,000 people have no access to clean water, according to Relief Web.
The cyclone produced peak wind gusts near 105 km/h (65 mph) as it made landfall in northeast Madagascar before weakening as it tracked farther inland and then southward.
While damaging winds where limited to areas close to the landfall of the tropical cyclone, widespread heavy rainfall caused flooding and mudslides, according to Daily Nation.
The city of Mananjary, along Madagascar’s eastern coastline, reported 301 mm (11.85 inches) of rain from Friday night into Monday.
Most of this rain fell during a 24-hour period from Sunday into Sunday night causing flooding.
Eliakim is currently east of southern Madagascar and will track southeastward away from the island through Wednesday, bringing no further impacts.
There will be the risk for isolated showers and thunderstorms across eastern parts of the island both Tuesday and Wednesday, which could hinder any cleanup efforts following the storm.
“Following the very active start to the year for tropical cyclones, a return to more typical tropical conditions is expected around Madagascar over the next couple of weeks,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls.
Nicholls is concerned for one more tropical threat in the vicinity of Madagascar during mid- to late April before the official end of the season on April 30.
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