Rain- and wind-battered Madagascar off the east coast of Africa was on Friday weathering its fourth heavy cyclone in recent months.
Intense Cyclone Indlala hit land in the tropical island on Thursday and continued to rage over the island’s vanilla plantations on Friday. By about 4pm on Friday afternoon, it was dissipating but still packed winds of about 100km/h, according to the Tropical Storm Risk website.
The cities of Sambava Antalaha and Maroantsetra in the north were affected, with large areas flooded and inhabitants left without telephone links.
Antalaha, the centre of vanilla production and already hard-hit by earlier devastating cyclones, has lost an estimated 90% of its crops.
The cyclone, which arrived with winds of more than 200km/h, also caused damage to police buildings and those of the aid agency Care International in Antalaha.
Germany on Friday made available €22 000 for victims of the extreme weather amid appeals from aid agencies for international assistance for tens of thousands of islanders affected by cyclones.
In Maroantsetra, heavy winds ripped away part of the roof of a prison and damaged the power supply late on Thursday. Ten prisoners fled into the night, but three were rearrested.
Three cyclones in recent weeks have left approximately 45 000 people displaced — an estimated 18 000 in the capital, Antananarivo. At least seven people have been reported killed as a result of the weather.
The Malagasy government declared a state of emergency and asked the international community for assistance for the impoverished country that has already lost most of its rice harvest and flooded about 85 000ha of cultivated land. — Sapa-dpa