By ARNALDO VIEIRA

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The UN Tuesday said it was racing against time to protect people affected with three extreme weather events as a fourth cyclone is due to soon make landfall in Madagascar.

Response teams had been deployed earlier to support the Government-led response.

Tropical Cyclone Emnati is likely to have a devastating effect on communities on the eastern coastline of Madagascar that are still reeling from the impact of Cyclones Ana, Batsirai and Dumako.

UN appealed for $26 million in funding to help boost emergency response after Cyclone Batsirai made landfall earlier this month.

“We are in a race against time to protect those who dealt with the fury of the first three extreme weather events from the impact of Emnati,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson Jens Laerke said Tuesday.

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday said the new storm would increase the needs of those already reeling from four weeks of weather chaos and said that it was ready to support those affected, while the Malagasy Red Cross on Monday said that there was a risk of a double tragedy.

More than 1.6 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance, including 334,000 in the Grand Sud who are facing emergency levels of food insecurity following recurring drought and the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The World Meteorological Organization said that although it is the typhoon season in Madagascar, it is rare to see many storms hitting the same country within such a short span of time.

Heavy rains are also expected along the path of the storm – up to 250mm – in the space of 24 hours on the flat land and from 400mm to 500mm at higher altitudes.

The island nation is one of the ten most vulnerable countries to disasters worldwide and faces compounding hazards.

While the eastern parts are battling cyclones, the southern parts are experiencing severe drought, leaving at least 1.3 million people in need of food assistance.