A month's worth of rain triggers deadly flooding in Madagascar capital
Torrential rainfall triggered deadly flooding in Madagascar's capital city of Antananarivo during the middle of last week, leaving streets underwater, homes inundated and thousands of residents displaced. AccuWeather forecasters say Moderate Tropical Storm Ana is to blame for the deluge.
At least 10 deaths have been attributed to flooding, and over 12,000 people have been left homeless, according to The Associated Press (AP). Local officials said at least 2,400 residences in Antananarivo were flooded following rounds of heavy rainfall, and low-lying portions of the city are in "deep water."
Even higher-elevation areas in the city were not left unscathed, as at least six houses collapsed due to the rainfall, according to the AP.
Given the hilly nature of the city, officials warn that oversaturated ground may give way, leading to an increased risk for landslides.
"We are appealing to the inhabitants of Antananarivo and the surrounding municipalities to leave areas at high risk of landslides, places where trees are at risk of falling and houses are at risk of collapsing," Gen. Elack Andriankaja, director-general of the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management, said.
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For the northern and central portions of the country, forecasters say a general 2 to 4 inches (50 to 100 mm) of rain fell at midweek.
In Antananarivo itself, totals climbed even higher. The city's reporting station recorded a whopping 5.88 inches (149 mm) of rain in just 48 hours. Typically, the city records just under 5.3 inches (135 mm) of rain for the entire month of January, meaning in just two days, the city received over a month's worth of rain.
A drastic influx of deep, tropical moisture from the Indian Ocean fed these drenching storms, according to forecasters. Unfortunately for residents, even more torrential rain arrived over the weekend as a tropical depression struck the country.
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This satellite image shows a tropical depression moving into Madagascar on Saturday, January 22, 2022. (RAMMB/CIRA) |
The strike from the tropical depression can further worsen what is already a desperate situation for some residents. With how saturated the soil in the area already is, it will not take much additional rain to trigger potentially major flooding problems.
On Saturday, in just 24 hours widespread rainfall amounts of 2-4 inches (50-100 mm) deluged portions of northern and central Madagascar, with even more extreme amounts in the highest elevations.
As AccuWeather forecasters correctly predicted, slightly less rain fell in Antananarivo itself. The city recorded a total of 1.62 inches (41 mm) of rain on Saturday. Even if the city did not record another drop of rain for the rest of the month of January, Antananarivo would end the month with 260% of its average rainfall.
Rainfall is expected to persist across portions of northern and central Madagascar early this week as a newly-formed tropical storm called Ana churns just west of the country.
Ana became a moderate tropical storm (equivalent to a tropical storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) on Monday in the Mozambique Channel.
Shortly after Ana's formation, the storm made landfall in northern Mozambique. Ana will continue to bring torrential rainfall and the potential for flooding early this week to the area, even as it loses wind intensity over land.
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