Attachments
A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
From 5 January 2015, pressure from Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) caused continuous rainfall, leading to flooding across Madagascar, with the capital city of Antananarivo among the areas that have been worst affected. Due its location, Antananarivo is prone to flooding, however the situation has been exacerbated by an increase in buildings constructed illegally in areas that have in the past acted as courses in which the rain waters could flow to reduce flooding. On 16 January, Tropical Cyclone Chezda landed in Madagascar, which caused Antananarivo’s pump station (in charge of the city’s disposal of rain and flood waters) to cease operation, and caused the levels of surrounding rivers to increase even further, resulting in a red alert (or immediate danger warning) being issued. It has also resulted in widespread destruction in the central (Analamanga region), south-eastern (Vatovavy Fitovinany and Atsimo Atsinanana) and western (Menabe region) parts of the island.
As of 30 January 2015, according to preliminary assessments carried out by the Malagasy Red Cross Society (CRM) an estimated 80,000 people were affected, with more than 20,000 living in temporary shelter throughout the country, including over 16,000 in Antananarivo. According to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), 68 people were killed.
On 2 February 2015, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) released CHF 262,902 from the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the CRM meet the immediate needs of 3,000 households (15,000 people) in the areas of emergency shelter and non-food items (NFIs), water, sanitation and hygiene, for a period of three months. As of 16 March 2015, it is estimated that 65 per cent of the activities have been completed.
As of 5 February 2015, the final official communiqué by the Bureau National de Gestion des Risques et des Catastrophes (BNGRC) indicated that 173,970 were affected, 80 dead, and nine still missing; however with the exception of Antananarivo, most of those that had been displaced were gradually returning back to their homes. From 14 February 2015, exceptional rains caused by above normal precipitation, affected the Alaotra Mangoro, Analamanga (containing the capital, Antananarivo) and Vakinankaratra regions, resulting in landslides and the death of 26 people. Following the breakdown of the Sisaony dam, the flooding in the greater Antananarivo worsened, and on 27 February 2015, a Red Alert (danger) was declared. By 9 March 2015, it was reported that 93,000 people were affected, and 40 000 displaced (BNGRC). In Antananarivo, 36,000 people were forced to move, and 1,831 houses were flooded or destroyed. Moreover, around 13,100 hectares of rice fields flooded, and many schools remain closed while being used as temporary accommodation centres.
This Operations Update is requesting a timeframe extension of two months, and an additional allocation of CHF 189,985 (totalling CHF 452,887) to enable the expansion of the activities planned to support an additional 2,000 households (10,000 people) that have been affected by worsened flooding, and living in camps in the city of Antananarivo (in total, 5,000 households (25,000 people) will be assisted). The DREF operation will end on 16 June 2015, and a final rep ort will be made available on 16 September 2015 (Three months after the end of the operation).
This DREF has been partially replenished by the Canadian Red Cross/Government, DG ECHO, Italian Government, Korean Government, Netherlands Red Cross/Silent Emergencies Fund and Tsunami Residual Funding. Major donors and partners of the DREF include the Red Cross Societies and governments of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the USA, as well as DG ECHO, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) the Medtronic, Zurich and Coca Cola Foundations and other corporate and private donors. The IFRC, on behalf of the Malagasy Red Cross Society would like to extend many thanks to all partners for their generous contributions.