L’Madagascar Island has updated its count. The latest official report from the authorities, published on Wednesday February 9, reports 80 deaths following the passage of Cyclone Batsirai. It could get even worse as some villages in the worst affected areas remain cut off from the world. The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC), which compiles the elements reported from the most impacted regions, particularly on the eastern coast of the Indian Ocean island, announced this new assessment in the aftermath. -midday.
Among these 80 dead, 60 were recorded in the district of Ikongo, in the east of the island, detailed the public body. “It’s a carnage here”, explained to Agence France-Presse the deputy of this district, Brunelle Razafintsiandrofa on the telephone, specifying that “most of the victims died following the collapse of their houses” . The country has registered more than 94,000 disaster victims and nearly 60,000 displaced persons, while many NGOs and UN agencies have begun to deploy resources and teams to help the victims of these torrential rains and extremely strong winds.
The tropical cyclone hit Madagascar overnight from Saturday to Sunday, in a 150 km long, sparsely populated and agricultural coastal area. It then moved towards the center, ravaging the country’s “rice bowl” by causing rivers to overflow into the rice fields, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis. The extreme weather phenomenon left the island on Monday morning, having spared the capital Antananarivo and the main port of the country, Tamatave (North-East). But it left a wake of destroyed or flooded houses, devastated health centers and schools and about twenty roads as well as 17 impassable bridges, which greatly complicates relief operations.
Lost rice crops
The balance sheets are gradually rising, hampered by the geographical isolation of certain villages and by communication difficulties, according to many officials on the ground. German experts arrived in the country, one of the poorest on the planet, to “support the humanitarian response in the Batsirai crossing areas”, said the BNGRC. And work is underway to restore the road network as quickly as possible. “Paddy fields are damaged, rice crops are lost. It is the main crop of Malagasy people and their food security will be seriously affected in the next three to six months if we do not act immediately,” said Pasqualina DiSirio, director of the World Food Program (WFP) in the country.
The UN agency notably distributed hot meals in Manakara, one of the most affected localities. Many NGOs, including Action Against Hunger, Handicap International, Save the Children and Doctors of the World, were mobilized ahead of the cyclone, prepositioning equipment and medicines. Alongside the aid provided by the government, they provided assistance to the victims: food, primary health care and distribution of kitchen equipment, blankets, hygiene products.
The United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) fears that many victims are minors, in a country where they account for more than half of the population of nearly 28 million. In Mananjary, the epicenter of the destruction, the overwhelmed residents continued to clear their town to shreds. “The house has collapsed, we don’t know where to go, we’re looking for food,” Berthine, 22, told AFP earlier this week.
