Morning arrives quietly over Madagascar’s eastern plains, as if unsure whether it is welcome. The air still carries the weight of rain, and puddles mirror a sky that has not yet decided to clear. Palm fronds lie folded against the earth, roofs rest where walls once stood, and paths that once led home now end in water. In this softened, unsettled light, the island begins to take stock of what the night has taken.

Cyclone Gezani passed through with the patient force of inevitability, its winds tightening over hours before releasing themselves across coastal towns and inland villages. Rivers swelled beyond their banks, roads dissolved into mud, and electricity faded in stages, neighborhood by neighborhood. By the time the storm moved on, at least 59 people were confirmed dead, and more than 16,000 had been displaced, carrying what they could into schools, churches, and temporary shelters.

Madagascar is no stranger to storms. Each season brings its own vocabulary of weather, and communities along the Indian Ocean have learned to read the signs. Yet Gezani’s path cut across regions already fragile from past floods and economic strain. Rice fields were submerged just weeks before harvest, livestock scattered or lost, and access routes severed, slowing the arrival of aid. In some districts, families waited days before help could reach them, listening to radios for updates that traveled faster than vehicles could.

Authorities moved to coordinate evacuations and distribute emergency supplies, while humanitarian groups assessed damage from the air and by foot. The work unfolded carefully, shaped by washed-out bridges and shifting ground. In shelters, the rhythm of daily life adjusted to new constraints: shared meals, quiet conversations, children tracing patterns in dust while adults counted what remained.

As the skies gradually lift, the focus turns to recovery—repairing homes, restoring water supplies, and preparing for the next rain that will surely come. For Madagascar, the cyclone leaves more than physical damage. It adds another layer to an ongoing story of resilience, one written not in headlines but in patient rebuilding, season after season, under a sky that is never entirely predictable.

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Sources Reuters Associated Press BBC News United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Al Jazeera