Disaster response Madagascar

Cyclone Enawo

2017

Published on Mar 07, 2017 01:00 AM - Updated on Jul 09, 2019 12:36 PM

In coordination with the Malagasy National Response Mechanism and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), TSF provided connectivity support in areas affected by the hurricane.

General information

Context: Cyclone
Start date: 07/03/2017
End date: 23/03/2017
Areas of intervention:

Sava
Analanjirofo

Activities:

UNDAC Support
Connectivity for the humanitarian community

Operational partners

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Context

Category 4 Cyclone Enawo formed in the Indian Ocean, and hit the Antalaha region on northeast coast of Madagascar on 7th March 2017 with wind speeds of up to 290 kmh.

Damage linked to the high wind speeds was reported in the northeast of the country in the district of Antalaha (Sava region), where the cyclone made landfall. Flooding was recorded across the northeast of the country, causing heavy local damage in several towns and villages. Following its primary evaluations, TSF identified Sambava (Sava region) and Maroantsetra (Analanjirofo) as the areas most in need of assistance.

Support to the national response mechanism

Deployed as part of the United Nations’ Disaster Assessment and Coordination body (UNDAC), as of 8th March, TSF brought its support to the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC) and other humanitarian partners, providing assistance in information management, assessment and coordination in the aftermath of Enawo.

TSF supported the installation of the first regional coordination centre in Antalaha. Situated in Care International Madagascar’s regional bureau, the centre served as the hub for the humanitarian coordination of the entire district, housing the BNGRC and a number of other organisations working in this zone.

Alongside UNDAC, TSF brought its technical expertise to the installation of the second coordination centre in the town of Maroansetra.

Connected by TSF, these centres allowed the BNGRC, UNDAC and all other humanitarian workers in the districts to optimise the coordination of their operations.

Collaboration with local MNOs

In collaboration with the Telma Foundation (government telecoms cluster lead), TSF worked alongside local mobile network operators in order to provide an overview of the condition of the terrestrial communications networks in the affected zones. These assessments were shared with the UN Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) to whom TSF also provided technical support.