1994 South Indian cyclone season
Cyclone Geralda 1994
Cyclone Geralda struck eastern Madagascar in February 1994, weeks after Cyclone Daisy. Damage to Toamasina and the transport routes inland left relief workers struggling to reach flooded communities.
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167 mph
Jan 31, 1994 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
An Indian Ocean crossing
Geralda developed over the Indian Ocean in late January and strengthened while moving toward Madagascar. The archive records peak one-minute winds of 145 kt on January 31 and a minimum central pressure of 905 hPa. The cyclone weakened before coming ashore near Toamasina, then lost strength over the island's terrain.
Floods beyond the coast
In Toamasina, destruction affected about 80 percent of the city, including houses, schools and churches. Inland rainfall flooded valleys and homes in Antananarivo, where 43 people died. Across Madagascar, Geralda killed 231 people, destroyed more than 40,000 homes and left about 356,000 people homeless.
Broken roads and rail lines delayed deliveries after the cyclone. The military helped survivors, while foreign governments and United Nations agencies supplied money and supplies. Limited stocks and poor coordination complicated the response, and food prices rose as communities waited for assistance.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Geralda in brief
What was Cyclone Geralda's highest wind speed?
167 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Jan 31, 1994, 06:00 AM UTC.
What category was Cyclone Geralda?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Jan 30, 1994, 09:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Cyclone Geralda's lowest pressure?
905 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Jan 31, 1994, 06:00 PM UTC.
When did Cyclone Geralda occur?
The archived track runs from Jan 25, 1994, 12:00 PM UTC to Feb 9, 1994, 12:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Jan 25, 1994, 12:00 PM UTC to Feb 5, 1994, 09:00 PM UTC.
Where did Cyclone Geralda form?
In the South Indian basin, in the 1994 season. Its first archived position is 11°S, 78°E on Jan 25, 1994, 12:00 PM UTC.
Did Cyclone Geralda make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 121 mph on Feb 2, 1994, 12:00 PM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology