Mozambique after Cyclone Idai: ‘Some people have not eaten in weeks’

The tropical storm struck Madagascar's eastern coast at full force. Officials have warned it could inflict "significant and widespread damage."

The death toll from Madagascar's latest cyclone rose to 29 on Tuesday (February 8) as residents of a devastated coastal town tried to fix their homes or build temporary shacks from wood and palm fronds scattered by the violent winds. Cyclone Batsirai slammed into the Indian Ocean island late on Saturday, battering the southeastern coastline until it moved away late on Sunday, leaving 91,000 people with damaged or destroyed homes, according to the state disaster relief agency.

Madagascar's state disaster relief agency says at least 80 people have died after Cyclone Batsirai hit the island at the weekend, with most deaths occurring in a single area.

A cyclone roared into the Bangladesh coast, leaving nine people dead. Flooding has been reported in several cities, including the capital Dhaka.

After cyclone Niran hit New Caledonia with gusts of more than 250km per hour in March, one banana grower refused to accept that much of his three tons of unripe fruit would now be lost. He decided to make lemonade out of lemons - by making his damaged fruit into banana flour. It's an alternative to wheat for consumers looking for gluten-free options, and producers in New Caledonia now hope that this could be the beginning of a whole new local industry.

For only the third time in its history, New Zealand has declared a national emergency. It comes as Cyclone Gabrielle causes flooding and landslides across North Island.

New Zealand is grappling with the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle which has left thousands displaced and at least four people dead. Several areas are short of food and water.

The death toll from Cyclone Gabrielle in New Zealand climbed to 11 on Sunday as thousands of people remained missing a week after the storm struck the country's North Island.

Freddy is set to become the longest-lasting cyclone on record, after it hit the country a second time on its looping trajectory considered rare by meteorologists.

Malawi's government said at least 190 people were killed with 584 injured and 37 missing, while authorities in neighboring Mozambique reported 20 deaths and 24 injured.

Chakwera has declared 14 days of national mourning with flags flying at half-mast for the first seven days. Freddy was initially projected to exit back to the sea on Wednesday but has since waned and is no longer classed as a tropical cyclone, the United Nations' weather monitoring center in Réunion said.

Hundreds of people have been killed as tropical cyclone Freddy continues its trail of destruction.