Just 11 days after Hurricane Fitia hit northwestern Madagascar, 12 people died and 31,000 were displaced.

Madagascar’s national weather service said hurricane-force winds and heavy rains were expected to persist as Cyclone Jezani barreled across the Indian Ocean island nation in the coming hours, with residents reporting widespread damage.

The Madagascar Meteorological Service issued an update at 1am local time on Wednesday (22:00 GMT) warning that there was a “high likelihood of widespread flooding, flash floods and landslides” as the hurricane moved “from east to west throughout Wednesday” towards the country’s central highlands.

Madagascar’s Meteorological Service said on its website that a red alert, meaning imminent danger, was issued for the regions of Anarangirofo, Azina Nana, Alau Tramangoro, Analamanga and Beziboka in the country’s northeast.

Jezani has caused flooding, power outages and extensive damage to homes, according to residents who spoke to AFP.

“It’s terrible. Everything is destroyed, roofs were blown off, floors were flooded, walls of solid houses collapsed,” a resident of the port city of Toamasina on Madagascar’s east coast told AFP by phone after communications were briefly restored.

“I’m talking about nice neighborhoods with well-built homes,” said the resident, who has been without power since the afternoon, five hours before the hurricane struck.

Colonel Michael Randrianirina has been in power in Madagascar since taking office. October military coupsaid that when Jezzani dies, he will travel to Toamasina – the capital of the Azina Nana region and the country’s main seaport – to be closer to the people.

CMRS cyclone forecasters on the French island of Reunion confirmed that the port of Toamasina had “received the strongest direct hit from Jezzani”.

According to CMRS, the hurricane’s landfall could be one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the region in the satellite era, comparable to Hurricane Gerald in February 1994. That storm killed at least 200 people and affected 500,000 people.

Although Jezani lost power as it entered the interior of Madagascar and was downgraded to a tropical storm, it was expected to return to cyclonic speeds while crossing the English Channel towards Mozambique.

Madagascar’s meteorological service said the storm was expected to “enter the Mozambique Channel between Maitilano and Morondava tomorrow evening or overnight” and continue moving towards the African continent.

Jezani made landfall on Tuesday night, less than two weeks after Tropical Cyclone Fitia struck northwestern Madagascar on January 31, killing at least 12 people and displacing 31,000, according to the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA.

The storm flooded, damaged or destroyed 18,600 homes, 493 classrooms and 20 health facilities and caused “significant damage to rice fields,” the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, adding that flooding also affected drinking water supplies and posed a public health risk.

Climate change expected to make tropical storms more intense Island countries are particularly at risk Rainfall is increasing due to rising sea levels and warming oceans.