afrol News, 8 March - Cyclone 'Gafilo' yesterday hit the northern coast of Madagascar at Antalaha and crossed parts of the island with wind speeds in excess of 300 km/hour. According to local authorities and aid workers, 'Gafilo' is the "most serious cyclone since 1994," when cyclone 'Geralda' left almost half a million Malagasy homeless.

This year's cyclone season in the south-western Indian Ocean is hitting Madagascar hard. Less than a month ago, the cyclone 'Elita' hit Madagascar three times, killing 29 people, injuring 100, and leaving 44,190 homeless. Yesterday, 'Gafilo' is believed to have created an even greater humanitarian disaster in north-eastern Madagascar. The damages are still unknown.

According to the Malagasy Red Cross, the latest information indicates that "the cyclone has dropped in intensity to a tropical depression and moved towards sea, south of the capital Antananarivo." Heavy rains however continue in the northern half of Madagascar, and there still exists "a risk that the storm could again intensify."

There is still very little information on the extent of damage at the moment, "but this is considered to potentially be the most serious cyclone since 1994, when Cyclone Geralda affected more than 450,000 people, according to an alert issued by the Red Cross yesterday evening. An aerial survey by a government helicopter yesterday, carrying members of the Red Cross Platform of Regional Intervention for the Indian Ocean (PIROI), could not land in Antalaha due to heavy flooding.

The government of Madagascar has already appealed for international assistance to tackle the potential humanitarian disaster in the remote and isolated north-eastern provinces. A meeting of the government's National Disaster Committee was organised yesterday to give a brief assessment of the damage and an indication of government action. Representatives of the Malagasy Red Cross and PIROI attended.

At Red Cross headquarters in Switzerland, information today was continuing to arrive, the organisation said. The Malagasy Red Cross already has a team on standby to initiate an assessment of the damage in the affected areas.

- Many houses in rural Madagascar are made from mud and straw which makes them particularly susceptible to damage, the Red Cross noted. The Malagasy Red Cross is now preparing to go into the region, where up to 100,000 may have lost their homes, according to UN reports.

First, the aid workers plan to supply the region with temporary shelters and telecommunication equipment. Later, when the size and scope of the damage is better known, new appeals, also for food aid, will probably be made by the government and the Red Cross.

Malagasy Prime Minister Jacques Sylla today was to visit the region to assess the impact of the storm. He will be accompanied by UN representatives on the island, who also are to report the extent of the damages to the many UN agencies dedicated to humanitarian work. Mr Sylla yesterday called the cyclone a "true national catastrophe" and asked for immediate international aid.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories