Tropical storm Ana has brought devastation to a number of countries since making landfall on Saturday, 22 January. It initially struck in Madagascar, and has since moved on to Malawi and Mozambique. On Thursday, 27 June, Madagascar called a state of emergency after 48 people were declared dead as a result of the storm.
In Malawi, 11 were reported dead and 18 in Mozambique. While the storm also passed through Zimbabwe, it did not result in any loss of life.
Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique have reported incidents of flooding and mudslides, resulting in fields being submerged by water and livestock drowning or smothering as a result. Between the three countries, 80 000 people have been displaced, according to The Guardian.
According to the EU’s aid agency Echo, at least 350 000 people have been affected throughout the three nations, with over 80 000 individuals displaced from their homes. Roads have been closed due to flooding, and power and water supply have been disrupted.
Aid organizations have put up dozens of makeshift shelters for those who have been displaced. Unicef said it will send employees to Mozambique to set up temporary learning centers and give food, medicine, and water purification tablets.
The hurricane in Mozambique damaged 12 health facilities and 137 schools, keeping more than 27 000 students out of school, according to the UN. It was projected that $3.5 million (£2.6 million) would be required to respond to the storm.
Another storm, called Batsirai, is on its way to the east coast of Africa. Batsirai was classified by Meteo France on Friday, 28 January as a tiny system that, because it was still days away, posed no immediate threat to a collection of islands east of Madagascar, including the French colony of Reunion.
The severity and trajectory of Batsirai’s progression, however, remained unknown, according to the report.
Batsirai, according to Mozambique’s National Institute of Meteorology, has the potential to become a severe tropical storm.
