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DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT
Cyclones bring a new level of destruction
Tropical Cyclone Chido was the first cyclone with a significant and destructive impact in the Southwestern Indian Ocean region of the 2024/2025 Cyclone Season, and this is forecast to be an early and above-average cyclone season, with particular risk to the Mascarene Islands, eastern Madagascar and Mozambique. Chido intensified into a powerful tropical cyclone on 11 December, reaching Category 4, with sustained winds of 220 km/h and gusts of up to 250 km/h and extreme central low pressure of 929 hPa. By 30 December, Chido had caused at least 172 deaths - 120 in Mozambique, 39 in Mayotte and 13 in Malawi - and over 6,300 reported injuries.
The first country impacted was Madagascar, where Chido crossed about 100 km north of the northern tip of the island, the Diana Region. Its strength was felt across several districts, causing significant damage to infrastructure and displacing residents. The disaster affected more than 135,800 people and heavy rains in the weeks following triggered flooding in several areas and impacted crops. With support from the Malagasy Red Cross Society (CRM), authorities continue to issue imminent danger warnings and take preventive measures, including evacuating at-risk communities.
The Comoros government declared one week of mourning following the cyclone, which affected 64,167 people in the islands of Anjouan and Moheli, including 171 families who lost their homes. Nine schools and 218 houses were damaged or destroyed, while 45 per cent of crops were affected. Chido caused extensive devastation in Mayotte too, with approximately 70 per cent of the population - about 230,000 people - severely impacted. Nearly 35,000 homes were destroyed and the main hospital and airport were damaged, disrupting essential services and trade. There are now roughly 100,000 people temporarily housed in 70 accommodation centres without sufficient water, food or adequate hygiene and safety conditions.
According to the Initial Rapid Assessment (IRA) conducted by the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), in collaboration with Mozambique's Instituto Nacional de Gestão de Calamidades (INGC) (National Institute for Disaster Management), approximately 90,640 households (455,513 individuals) have been impacted by the cyclone in Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Niassa provinces. As of 30 December 2024, INGC data also indicated that 32,379 homes had sustained partial damage while 72,160 had been completely destroyed, resulting in a total of 104,539 damaged shelters across the affected provinces.
In Malawi, nearly 46,000 people have been affected in the aftermath of the cyclone’s passage, with high winds destroying hundreds of homes. Since the onset of the rainy season, intense rainfall resulting from Malawi’s position in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) has also continued to impact the central and southern regions, highlighting the need for continued disaster management and humanitarian aid.
National Societies of the Red Cross and Red Crescent continue to be present on the ground, fulfilling their humanitarian mandate by supporting search and rescue operations, providing first aid, emergency shelter and household items, and assisting with evacuation and family reunification and relocation.
Cyclone Dikeledi disrupts schooling for 8,000
Tropical Cyclone Dikeledi made landfall in northern Madagascar on 11 January 2025, affecting more than 7,000 people. The storm brought heavy rainfall to the northern regions of the country, resulting in damage to 1,000 homes. Schools resumed on 13 January in some areas in the north of Madagascar. However, school courses for over 8,000 children have been disrupted, as nearly 250 classrooms were damaged or destroyed by winds. The Government of Madagascar has since conducted a high-level visit in the north to scale up humanitarian assistance using the pre-positioned stocks deployed during Cyclone Chido.
Following its passage through Madagascar, Dikeledi then struck Mozambique on 14 January, affecting areas that had already been impacted by Chido in December, primarily striking the coastal province of Nampula. The storm brought sustained winds of 150 km/h, with gusts reaching 180 km/h, and over 200 mm of rain within a 24-hour period. Initial rapid assessments conducted by DTM in collaboration with Mozambique’s Instituto Nacional de Gestão e Redução do Risco de Desastres (INGD) (National Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management), estimate that approximately 56,729 households (234,104 individuals) have been affected. By 20 January, preliminary data indicated that 31,898 homes had sustained partial damage while 24,101 homes had been completely destroyed, resulting in a total of 55,999 damaged shelters across the province. INGD did activate Anticipatory Action protocols in Nampula before Dikeledi’s landfall, opening four evacuation centres.
Tropical Cyclones Garance and Honde
In late February 2025, two more systems, Moderate Tropical Storm Honde and Severe Tropical Storm Garance, then developed in the Indian Ocean, increasing in strength to cyclones. Intense rain and winds from Honde struck southern Madagascar on 28 February, affecting nearly 100,000 people and destroying over 10,000 homes. Garance made landfall on La Réunion the same day, knocking out electricity and water for most of the island’s residents. Mauritius activated preparedness protocols for Garance’s expected impact too but received only minimal damage.
Flooding increases
The flooding situation across Southeastern Africa, particularly in Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique, has been severe due to heavy rainfall and the impacts of recent tropical cyclones. In Madagascar more than 2,800 people from 780 households were displaced due to the floods in Antananarivo in February 2025. In Malawi, by 5 March, 40,178 households (approximately 180,801 people) across the country had been affected by flooding and intense rains. Floods have particularly affected southern and central districts, with more than 1,100 households displaced in Mangochi district in late January, and 440 households displaced in Chikwawa district in late February. Thirty-nine people lost their lives and 469 have been injured. And further rains are expected to continue over March and into April.
In Mozambique, heavy rains have been recorded in the North since the third week of February and river levels are continuing to rise, potentially leading to flooding in several areas of Namacurra and Maganja da Costa. MRCS activated its Early Action Protocol (EAP) for Floods on 21 February based on forecasts of severe flooding in the Licungo and Limpopo river basins. With three days (72 hours) before the flood's expected peak, its team acted swiftly to protect 10,000 people in the most vulnerable communities through anticipatory action.
Ongoing preparedness
Alongside the intense emergency relief work underway, the impact of Chido and Dikeledi underscores the importance of preparedness, readiness and resilience in the face of increasingly fierce tropical storms. Many of the affected areas continue to experience high levels of rainfall and heighted risk of flooding in addition to an above-average cyclone season.
This Emergency Appeal seeks to provide the necessary resources to the IFRC network to deliver humanitarian assistance. It also aims to enhance the readiness of National Societies and volunteers while strengthening the resilience of at-risk communities through the end of the cyclone season in April and beyond.