A Second Cyclone Slams Madagascar

For the second time in two weeks, a powerful tropical cyclone hit Madagascar. On January 31, Fytia hit the isolated northwest coast of the island with destructive winds and torrential rains that displaced thousands of people. Less than two weeks later, Gezani made a direct hit on one of the island’s largest cities before sweeping away the areas Fytia had just flooded.

The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) from NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of Gezani as it approached Madagascar on February 10, 2026. At the time, the storm was undergoing rapid intensification. Its sustained winds peaked at 200 kilometers (125 miles) per hour before making landfall with Category 3 hurricane strength.

According to meteorologists at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, the storm developed under conditions “highly favorable” for strengthening, including sea surface temperatures above 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit), wind shear below 20 kilometers (12 miles) per hour and an unusually humid atmosphere. As the storm passed near Toamasina, Madagascar’s second-largest city, satellites contributing to NASA’s IMERG (Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM) product measured rain rates of up to 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) per hour.

The deluge caused widespread flooding in Toamasina and several other areas of the island. Preliminary damage assessments by Madagascar’s National Office for Risk and Disaster Management linked the storm to dozens of deaths, hundreds of injuries and damage to more than 27,000 homes. Reports from media and humanitarian groups have described chaotic conditions in Toamasina, with widespread power outages, many collapsed roofs and a lack of clean water.

Landsat 8’s Operational Land Imager (OLI) captured this false-color image of severe flooding near Brickaville, just south of Toamasina, on February 14, 2026 (right). For comparison, the image on the left shows the same area before the storm. Villages and farmland along the Rongaronga River appear particularly hard hit. Crops commonly grown in this region include rice, vanilla, lychees, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon, according to researchers at the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development.

Madagascar is one of the most cyclone-prone countries in Africa, with around six storms typically affecting the island each year and two making direct landfall. Hurricane season generally runs from November to April, with peak activity between January and March.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using NASA MODIS data EOSDIS LANCE And GIBS/Worldview And Landsat data from United States Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.

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