Cyclone Gezani

Intense Tropical Cyclone Gezani was a deadly, long-lived and destructive tropical cyclone that became the costliest cyclone to hit Madagascar on record, and the third-costliest cyclone in the South-West Indian Ocean. It also affected parts of St. Brandon, Mascarene Islands, and Mozambique as an intense tropical cyclone. In Madagascar, it made landfall at the city of Toamasina, the country's chief seaport. The ninth depression, eighth storm and third tropical cyclone of the 2025–26 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Gezani was the strongest tropical cyclone to impact Madagascar in 2026, and the second to do so within 2 weeks' time, following Cyclone Fytia. The cyclone formed on 4 February 2026 as a tropical disturbance, and mostly meandered in the same spot for a few coming days. A while later, the storm tracked southwest at a relatively low pace. On 8 February, the disturbance was upgraded to a moderate tropical storm and was given the name Gezani. Over the next few days, the storm rapidly intensified from a moderate tropical storm to a tropical cyclone in a small 30-hour window. It made landfall in Madagascar as an intense tropical cyclone with winds of 195km/h (121mph) and pressure as low as 952hPa (mbar).

Gezani left at least 63 people dead, including 59 in Madagascar, 804 others injured, and 15 missing; alongside 16,000 being displaced. The cyclone has destroyed 25,000 homes, with a further 27,000 flooded. According to the CMRS cyclone forecaster on France's Réunion island, Cyclone Gezani's landfall is likely to have been one of the most intense recorded around the city in the satellite era.

Meteorological history

On 4 February, a tropical disturbance formed 1,000km (620mi) northeast of Mauritius; assigned Zone of Disturbed Weather 10 by Météo-France and Tropical Disturbance 21S by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The disturbance proceeded to move erratically around its formation area. The disturbance then was officially recognized as a tropical depression by the JTWC. Around the same time, Météo-France also upgraded the storm from a zone of disturbed weather to a depression. The tropical depression proceeded to strengthen and move erratically towards the southwest, keeping its depression status for a distance of 900km (560mi). In this state, the storm averaged a movement speed of 9km/h (5.6mph).

On 8 February, the tropical depression was officially upgraded to a moderate tropical storm by Météo-France; giving it the name Gezani. The JTWC also proceeded to classify Gezani as a tropical storm. In this state, Gezani moved 50km (31mi) to the southwest at a relatively slow speed of 3km/h (1.9mph). The strengthening tropical storm continued by moving towards Madagascar, though at a slow pace of 7km/h (4.3mph). The next day, Gezani underwent rapid intensification, intensifying from a moderate tropical storm to an intense tropical cyclone in just 24 hours. In the process, Gezani developed a well defined eye. At 12:00 UTC, Gezani reached its peak intensity, sustaining wind speeds of up to 185km/h (115mph) and pressure levels as low as 953hPa (mbar) over a 10-minute period. Shortly after its peak intensity, at approximately 17:30 UTC on 10 February (7:30pm local time), Gezani made landfall near the city of Toamasina as an intense tropical cyclone, and asa high-end Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It was reported that Gezani's storm surge was 1m (3.3ft) high and traveling at 250km/h (160mph); accompanied by 10m (11yd) wave heights at this stage in the storm's lifespan. Satellite imagery displayed that the eye passed right over the city.

Following the landfall, Gezani rapidly weakened; going from an intense tropical cyclone to a severe tropical storm in a 12-hour window. That was then followed by the cyclone briefly weakening into a tropical depression (disturbance on the MFR scale.) On 11 February at 18:00 UTC, Gezani had officially crossed Madagascar and lost all of its prior strength; travelling into the Mozambique Channel at about 25km/h (16mph). Then, bring present in the channel, it began strengthening in the warm water whilst steadily travelling west-southwest. The strengthening process of the storm remained slow, increasing in intensity slightly at a time. On 13 February at 00:00 UTC, the storm started showing signs of gradually turning south. Gezani narrowly missed Mozambique on its way south, briefly reaching its low end Category 3 secondary peak intensity of 185km/h (115mph), about 60km (37mi) east of Inhambane. The cyclone continued turning to its left–back to the east; whilst weakening in the process. On 15 February at 00:00 UTC, the storm had completed its 180° turn to the left; continuing to weaken. This was followed by the cyclone approaching Madagascar, without making a secondary landfall. After narrowly missing Madagascar, the cyclone proceeded to turn to the south, where on the 17 February it was downgraded to a moderate tropical storm. In the process, the cyclone moved over 1000 km south from when it was near Madagasacar–where it proceeded to become a subtropical cyclone. Over the next two days, Gezani would continue to weaken and on 20 February, Gezani dissipated.

Preparations and impact

On 6 February, when the cyclone became a moderate tropical storm, The GDACS gave an overall red weather alert, expecting severe humanitarian needs following landfall. The United Nations released $3 million from its emergency response fund to help Madagascar prepare for the impacts of Gezani. The Mozambican government prepared in potential for effects, expecting it becomes a tropical cyclone in the Mozambique channel. Cyclone Gezani came 10 days after Tropical Cyclone Fytia, which killed 14 and displaced over 31,000 people.

Mascarene Islands

Tropical Storm Gezani passed over St. Brandon and north of the main islands of the Mascarene Islands before heading towards Madagascar. In Réunion, the system made its closest approach between February 8 and 9, 2026, passing about 315 kilometres (196mi) north of the island, bringing stronger winds, rougher seas, and more humid conditions, but no major damage was reported by local authorities. In Mauritius, the storm's influence remained very limited, as it tracked about 200 kilometres (124mi) north-northeast of the island, with no significant disturbances observed.

Madagascar

In Madagascar, a total of 59 citizens have been found or reported dead; 32 in Toamasina Province and 27 elsewhere in the country. Alongside this, 804 were found injured and 15 people were overall labeled as missing in the country. In the city of Toamasina 16,318 people were displaced from their homes alongside 269,407 classified as disaster victims in total. Toamasina also faced severe structural damage. 18,797 houses and 71 classrooms have been destroyed; as well as 51,760 houses and 561 classrooms being damaged. 104 classrooms were also labeled as being partially destroyed. Overall, 75% of buildings were considered destroyed in the city, described by the locals as monstrous damage. At one point, Toamasina was running with only 5% of electricity and no clean water.

Aon estimated that losses from Gezani totaled to US$150 million. But on March 6, 2026, economic losses where estimated to be at least US$2 billion in Madagascar alone.

Mozambique

In Inhambane, Mozambique, water services were cut off and 13,000 citizens were left without power; leaving four dead. According to the Mozambican meteorological service, gusts of 215 km/h were recorded and more than 130,000 people were left without electricity, according to the national supply company, in the surrounding region. Authorities also report 805 displaced people in 15 shelters and 6,165 people affected.

Elsewhere

The extratropical depression originating from the remnants of Gezani brought 83 millimetres (3.3in) of rain to the Alfred-Faure base in the Crozet Islands on February 19th, followed by strong winds on the Kerguelen Islands the next day, where the Port-aux-Français base recorded a gust of 156 kilometres per hour (97mph).

Aftermath

Compounding on the impacts of Cyclone Fytia, 400,000 people overall were left in humanitarian needs. Michael Randrianirina, Madagascar's president, visited Toamasina to view the damage caused from the storm. To help with the damage, China offered ¥100 million to cleanup after the destructive cyclone, and France pledged food and rescue teams from Reunion. France donated humanitarian aid to Madagascar, which, per Joan Tilouine and Laure Verneau, was meant to counter Russian influence in Madagascar. According to the CMRS cyclone forecaster on France's Reunion island, Cyclone Gezani's landfall is likely to have been one of the most intense recorded around the city in the satellite era.

See also

• 2026 in Madagascar
• Tropical cyclones in 2026
• Weather of 2026
• Tropical cyclones in Southern Africa

Notes

External links

• Media related toCyclone Gezaniat Wikimedia Commons