Former President Mohamed Nasheed is in Madagascar to provide assistance to the country's authorities during Cyclone Gezani.
Madagascar’s national weather service said that hurricane-force winds and heavy rains are expected to continue as Cyclone Gezani makes its way across the Indian Ocean island nation.
"On the ground in Madagascar as a Category 4 cyclone makes landfall. This is what climate vulnerability looks like in real time: sirens, SMS alerts, evacuations, institutions working nonstop to protect lives. Resilience here is courage under pressure. The world must match it with support," Nasheed said in a post on social media X.
Nasheed is currently the Secretary General of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), which advocates for the rights of small countries most affected by environmental impacts.
Meteo Madagascar warned in an update that “widespread flooding, flash floods, and landslides are highly likely" and red alerts have been issued to multiple areas.
Gezani has already caused flooding, electricity outages and widespread damage to homes, according to residents who spoke to the AFP news agency.
It made landfall on Tuesday night, less than two weeks after Tropical Cyclone Fytia hit northwestern Madagascar on January 31, killing at least 12 people and displacing 31,000, according to the UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA.
