striking Madagascar about southeast of Antsiranana. This made it the first recorded tropical cyclone to make landfall in the month of May in the basin. It weakened while crossing the country, and after turning to the south it struck the country again before dissipating on May 11. Across Madagascar, Cyclone Kesiny dropped heavy rainfall, reaching in three days at Toamasina (the second largest city in the country). The rains caused mudslides and flooding in the eastern portion of the country, wrecking the rice and maize crops and leaving 5,000 people homeless. At least 33 bridges were destroyed, and many roads were damaged. A total of 33 people were killed, and 1,200 people were injured. The cyclone struck in the midst of a political crisis, in which the top two candidates of the Malagasy presidential election in 2001 declared themselves the winner; the incumbent, who lost, attempted to declare Toamasina the new capital city, and the political instability disrupted relief efforts. Other systems The first storm of the season originated from an area of convection east of Diego Garcia in early October 2001. Moving southwestward, it slowly organized, with convection developing around a weak circulation. Late on October 3, MFR classified the system as a zone of disturbed weather. On October 5, the agency re-classified it as a tropical disturbance and later as Tropical Depression 1. The circulation was partially exposed due to wind shear, although it had good outflow. The JTWC initiated advisories on Tropical Cyclone 01S at 0600 UTC on October 6, estimating winds of about 65 km/h (40 mph). Due to the shear, the convection gradually diminished, prompting the MFR to downgrade it to a tropical disturbance on October 7. The next day, the JTWC issued its last advisory, noting that the system was dissipating. A zone of disturbed weather formed on November 15 in the eastern part of the basin. It remained a zone of disturbed weather for a few days before briefly strengthening into a tropical depression on November 21. It dissipated two days later. This system was also designated as tropical cyclone by the JTWC. On February 5, a tropical low developed in the Mozambique Channel. Classified as Tropical Disturbance 9 by MFR, the system moved southeastward, dissipating on February 6. The season ended with a tropical disturbance, which formed on June 13 to the east-southeast of Diego Garcia. It moved to the south, and