Final Blog: Natural Disasters in Madagascar

Madagascar, an island country off the coast of Africa, is settled in a region that leaves it vulnerable to many natural disasters. The two most frequent, however, and with the most devasting lasting results come from cyclones and, as an aftermath/ couples with these cyclones, flooding.

Madagascar experiences heavy rainfall during the months of November to April annually. This rain, coupled with poor land practice and increasing deforestation leads to both cyclones and flooding in the country during this wet season. This leads to a devastating aftermath for multiple reasons. In a study conducted by World Population Review in 2022, Madagascar ranks at being 3rd among countries with the highest poverty rate. Because of this severe poverty they experience, inhabitants of the island often are living in houses with poor infrastructure and lack of coding laws that could otherwise assist in prevailing through these natural disasters. According to Disaster Risk Profiles, “Madagascar will experience around $87 million in direct losses annually from winds, flooding, and storm surge associated with tropical cyclones” (DRP).

Not only do these cyclones leave many citizens injured, killed, or displaced, they also have a severe impact on the farming that takes place as the country’s main source of export. Because of the wet season where flooding and cyclones occur, Madagascar’s land often has a hard time recovering post-disasters. As previously mentioned, the country relies heavily on agricultural export as source of funds for the inhabitants. These cyclones and floods, however, have a pattern of causing significant crop damage, affecting the citizens’ findings in an already suffering financially country.

In order to help mitigate the aftermath of these natural disasters, I would first help with implementing coding laws for the construction of homes. Hopefully in that case, when these floods and cyclones inevitably occur, the infrastructure might stand a chance at survival, helping with less displacement of people. Habitat.org suggests having a plan set up for
households expecting a cyclone or flood. This might include survival kits, and reinforcing doors and windows prior to the event. Home insurance would also be available to help cope with the funds lost, if money was more abundant than it currently is.



As shown in the above image, the areas of Madagascar most at-risk for cyclones and flooding are the northern-most and west coast region of the country. Although cyclones cam take place anywhere, this seems to be where most of the damage is done on the island (DRP). For this reason, I would bring my attention and prevention methods previously mentioned here first.

There really isn’t a “safe” zone in any of Madagascar. The country experiences intense annual rains, storms, flooding, and earthquakes in nearly every region of the island. However, out of all of the regions in the country, the southern-most section of the island is where cyclones tend to occur the least frequently. It can be concluded then, that this would be the safest zone to build villages on if possible, to help with a higher chance of human survival and safety, in a hopeful effort to prevent more loss than the country already experiences.

 

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/poverty-rate-by-country

https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/madagascar/climate-data-historical#:~:text=In%20Madagascar%2C%20two%20seasons%20are,maximum%20of%203%2C700%20mm%20annually.

https://www.gfdrr.org/sites/default/files/madagascar.pdf

https://www.habitat.org/our-work/disaster-response/disaster-preparedness-homeowners/hurricanes

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Madagascar Intro Post

Image
Madagascar, Africa's largest island, is located in the Indian Ocean having a population of over 27 million people. The toppgraphy of the land varies from elevated plateaus running centrally through the island, to coastal low-lands. These peaks range in height, with the highest being anywhere between 8,270-9,468 ft in altitude. Due to these differences in landscapes, the country expereinces multiple types of tempareatures and climates- with winters in the mountains getting to below freezing tempartures, while the coastal regions remain hot and sunny all year-round.  Madagascar is most known for its wildlife, as its home to more than 100,000 native species of plants, 90% of which are found only in this country. The most notable and famous of these plants include the baobab tree, a bottle-neck shaped plant that are considered sacred to the country's people. Along with housing a wide array of plants, Madagascar is also home to 70 different species of lemurs, and an estimated 55 end
Read more

Madagascar and Earthquake Activity

Image
 Madagascar is a country that is at a high risk for frequent natural disasters, earthquakes being no exception. With an average total of 500 earthquakes a year, the government of Madagascar has improved their current risk management plans in an effort to reduce the loss of infrastructure as well as prepare their people for when disaster strikes. This plan, implemented initially in 2003, has been consistently updating its policies and encouraging new laws since, in order to effectively plan for an after-quake mediation. It seems that the Malagasy government has taken more of a reactive, rather than proactive approach when it comes to the risk management strategy, but helpful nonetheless. This strategy has so far included planting numerous excavators, wheel loaders, dump trucks, ambulances, and firetrucks around the entirety of country but focusing on its most seismically active region- below the Ankaratra Plateau in the center of the island. Here, the country has seen its biggest earthq
Read more

Week 8: Mass Wasting in Madagascar

Image
  According to ThinkHazard.org, Madagascar is ranked high for mass wasting/ landslides. Madagascar is an island country, with high terrain slopes and inclining dunes/hills formed around the country, which often trigger these natural disasters to occur. Although gravity is the main instigator of these mass wastings, rather than there needing to be a preceding disaster to occur, Madagascar does experience a relatively high amount of earthquakes and heavy rainfall that can contribute to these landslides, in conjunction with natural force of gravity. Many houses in regions of the country are built upon unstable hills as well, which often leave infrastructure hurt due to these heavy rainfalls, especially. One of these particular post-storm events led to the destruction of many homes in February 2018 in the capital city, Antananarivo, and unfortunately took the lives of 7 civilians in the area.   https://floodlist.com/africa/madagascar-floods-antananarivo-january-2019 https://thinkhaza
Read more