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; particularly Toamasina as an intense tropical cyclone. The ninth depression, eighth storm and third tropical cyclone of the 2025–26 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, the storm was the strongest tropical cyclone to impact Madagascar so far in 2026. The cyclone formed on 4 February 2026 as a tropical disturbance, and mostly hovered 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 185 km/h (115 mph) and pressure as low as 953 hPa (mbar).