Cyclone Bondo - Impact and Aftermath

Impact and Aftermath

In response to the danger from Bondo, the Farquhar Atoll, which is part of the Seychelles, evacuated 35 of its 43 residents. The remaining eight stayed on the island in a concrete bunker. The island of Agaléga received at least 11 inches of rain from Bondo. Eleven people were killed as a result of Bondo and another was reported as missing. A total of 20,001 people were left homeless. One of the fatalities took place in Mahajanga after a wall collapsed on a man. Another fatality occurred offshore after a man went missing while taking his family canoeing. Roughly 300 people were affected in the city of Mahajanga alone. Phone service and essential equipment were unavailable or out of service in the affected region, hampering rescue efforts. The outer bands of Bondo also brought gusty winds, recorded up to 45 km/h (28 mph) and moderate rainfall.

In conjunction with the International Red Cross, rescue teams in Madagascar were deployed to the hardest hit regions on December 27. These teams traveled by road to the region while a third team was set to arrive by helicopter several days later. By late-February, 2007, the Government of Norway provided $800,000 in relief funds for the combined effects of Cyclones Bondo, Favio and Clovis. On March 15, 2007, the United Nations announced a funding program after three other storms had struck Madagascar. The goal was to provide roughly $9 million to about 300,000 of the millions of affected population. However, upon the announcement, only $3 million of this fund had been allocated. Following the widespread damage from Cyclone Indlala in March, 2007, the Government of Madagascar launched an appeal to the United Nations for $246 million in relief funds for damage wrought by all five cyclones.