Skip to main content

Madagascar: Cyclone Manou batters eastern provinces

Countries
Madagascar
Sources
TNH
Publication date

ANTANANARIVO, 9 May (IRIN) - Tropical cyclone Manou hammered Madagascar's east coast on Friday, flooding rice fields and leaving dozens of people without shelter.
Aid workers told IRIN the number of people affected by the heavy rains had yet to be confirmed, but preliminary reports released by local authorities indicate that almost 90 percent of infrastructure in the small town of Vatomandry, in Toamasina province, had been destroyed.

Earlier this week the country's weather service, Meteo, warned residents along the eastern seaboard to move to safe shelters. However, the storm's size and intensity took authorities by surprise as they had forecast a "moderate tropical storm".

The cyclone was accompanied by average winds of 150 km/h and gusts as strong as 210 km/h.

"It is still too soon to tell what the impact has been, but reports show that the main road between Brickaville and Vatomandry has been washed away, making the area only accessible by air," UN Development Programme officer, Michel Mattera, told IRIN.

He added that communication links have been cut and electric power disrupted.

Meanwhile, local authorities have appealed for medicines to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases.

In January, two weeks of heavy rains killed 13 people and left 2,218 homeless in the provinces of Antananarivo and Fianarantsoa. Most of the deaths were caused when houses collapsed.

Cyclone Fari battered the east coast at the end of January, just as the flood waters were receding.

[ENDS]

IRIN-SA Tel: +27 11 880-4633 Fax: +27 11 447-5472 Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: IRIN@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003