Jezani is expected to regain cyclonic status when it hits southern Mozambique on Friday night.

The incident has killed nearly 40 people and displaced more than 12,000 people. Cyclone Jezani Mozambique is bracing for the arrival of a storm that hit Madagascar’s second city earlier this week.

Madagascar’s National Office for Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC) said on Thursday it had updated the death toll as assessments progressed, with 38 people dead, six more missing and at least 374 injured.

Jezani made landfall on the eastern coastal city of Toamasina in the Indian Ocean island nation of Madagascar on Tuesday, bringing winds of 250 km/h (155 mph).

Madagascar’s new leader, Colonel Michael Landrianirina, declared a national disaster and called for “international solidarity”, saying the hurricane had “destroyed up to 75 per cent of Toamasina and the surrounding area”.

AFP images showed the devastated city of 500,000 people, with trees blown down by strong winds and roofs blown off.

Residents dug into piles of debris, planks and corrugated metal to repair their makeshift homes.

According to BNGRC, more than 18,000 homes were destroyed in the hurricane, and at least 50,000 of them were damaged or flooded. Authorities said many of the deaths were caused by building collapses because many buildings lacked adequate shelter to withstand powerful storms.

The main road linking the city to the capital Antananarivo was cut off in several places, “hindering humanitarian convoys” and telecommunications were unstable, the report said.

The storm also caused significant damage to the Azina Nana area around Toamasina, the disaster management agency said, adding that assessments were still ongoing.

France announced the dispatch of food aid and rescue teams from Reunion Island, some 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) away.

The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) said thousands of people had been forced from their homes and described “widespread damage and devastation”.

The report said the landfall could be one of the strongest cyclones ever recorded in the region in the satellite era, comparable to Geralda in February 1994. That storm killed at least 200 people and affected 500,000 people.

Jezani weakened after making landfall but continued to sweep across the island as a tropical storm until Wednesday night.

The cyclone is expected to return to cyclonic status after reaching the Mozambique Channel and may hit southern Mozambique starting on Friday evening, according to the Regional Professional Meteorological Center of Réunion (CMRS).

Mozambican authorities warned on Thursday about the coming storm, which they said could trigger strong winds and rough waves up to 10 meters high, and urged people to leave areas expected to be affected.

Madagascar and Mozambique are both vulnerable to damaging storms blowing from the Indian Ocean. Just last month, the northwest region of Madagascar was hit by Cyclone Fitia, killing at least 14 people.

Mozambique has faced devastating floods from seasonal rains that have killed nearly 140 people since October 1, according to Mozambique’s National Disaster Management Authority.