Cyclone Giovanna kills at least five in Madagascar

Cyclone Giovanna kills at least five in Madagascar

2012-02-15 16:10:10 GMT+7 (ICT)

ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCAR (BNO NEWS) -- At least five people were killed on Tuesday when Intense Tropical Cyclone Giovanna made landfall on the eastern coast of Madagascar, local media reported on Wednesday. Hundreds of homes were damaged.

The tropical cyclone made landfall just south of the port of Toamasina at around 1 a.m. local time on Tuesday, bringing torrential rains and winds of up to 180 kilometers (112 miles) per hour. Although the Category 4 cyclone weakened as it crossed the island country, it caused widespread damage.

The capital Antananarivo, which is usually spared from intense tropical cyclones, was without electricity, water and telephone services on Tuesday. Many roads were closed, homes were damaged and firefighters reported two people, one of them a baby, drowned in the capital.

Fatalities were also reported in other parts of the country, according to the Madagascar-Tribune newspaper. Two people were killed when a tree fell on their house in the city of Brickaville while a landslide buried a house in Moramanga, killing at least one person.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the storm caused significant damage to public infrastructure across the country and warned Madagascar already faced high malnutrition rates, particularly in children. There is also a low level of access to fresh water and decent sanitation.

As of Wednesday morning, the center of Giovanna was located just off the western coast of Madagascar, or about 250 nautical miles (463 kilometers) west-southwest of Antananarivo. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to 46 miles (74 kilometers) per hour with gusts of up to 57 miles (92 kilometers) per hour, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).

Madagascar, which is located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa, is frequently faced with cyclones and tropical storms in the early months of the year. Last year, Cyclone Bingiza killed at least 14 people and destroyed almost 6,000 homes.

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