Early on 15 March, the cyclone made landfall in northeastern Madagascar on the Masoala Peninsula near Antalaha, still at its peak intensity according to the MFR.

Severe flooding, strong winds, and heavy rainfall wrecked cities in the immediate vicinity of its landfall point.

Farther inland and along the country's northwest coast, flooding cut access to roads, which disrupted the response to the storm.

The Intertropical Convergence Zone spawned an area of convection, or thunderstorms, on 9 March, located southwest of the Chagos archipelago in the central Indian Ocean.

On the same day, the American-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert, after a further increase in convection.

On 11 March, the MFR upgraded the system to Tropical Depression 12, after an expansion of outflow and an increase in banding features.

[1][2] With favorable atmospheric conditions, Indlala continued to strengthen as its convection organized, becoming a severe tropical storm late on 12 March.

The next day, the MFR upgraded Indlala to tropical cyclone status – with 10–minute sustained winds of at least 120 km/h (75 mph), the equivalent of a hurricane.

On 14 March, the MFR upgraded Indlala further to an intense tropical cyclone, estimating peak 10–minute winds of 175 km/h (110 mph), and a minimum barometric pressure of 935 mbar (27.6 inHg).

Around 00:00 UTC on 15 March, the cyclone made landfall in northeastern Madagascar on the Masoala Peninsula near Antalaha, still at its peak intensity according to the MFR.

[1] Indlala was the fifth tropical cyclone to hit or affect Madagascar in the span of three months, after Bondo, Clovis, Favio, and Gamede.

[6] Across northern Madagascar, Cyclone Indlala dropped heavy rainfall and produced hurricane-force wind gusts.

[13] Flooding from Indlala affected a 131,700 km2 (50,800 sq mi) area of northern Madagascar, notably in the cities of Antalaha, Maroantsetra, and Sambava, where the cyclone severed phone lines and caused power outages.

[18] In Ambanja along Madagascar's northwest coast, flooding displaced about 9,000 people, after a rapid rise of water 3 m (9.8 ft) high.

[4] Members of the Red Cross worked with volunteers and Malagasy officials to respond to the cyclone, including disaster assessment and inspecting water systems.

[26] The series of storms left about 150,000 children unable to attend school,[11] although most of them were able to return after Easter break in early April.

[28] As an immediate response to Indlala, the American embassy in Antananarivo released US$100,000 for urgent relief operations,[29] and Germany sent €22,000 to help storm victims.