Cyclone Enawo, a massive tropical storm packing winds up to 300 kph (185 mph), killed at least three people when it slammed into the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, officials said on Wednesday.
Cyclone Enawo, a massive tropical storm packing winds up to 300 kph (185 mph), killed at least three people when it slammed into the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, officials said on Wednesday.
Enawo struck the northeast village of Ampahana on Tuesday morning, destroying roads and all communications links to the Antalaha district in the vanilla-producing northeastern coast of the country.
"The road linking Andapa and Sambava is cut off due to landslides and uprooted trees blocking the road. The communication to Antalaha is cut and not yet restored," said Bruno Betiana, the senator for the Sava region.
Antalaha district has a population of 230,000 people according to the statistics office. The government said at least three people were killed when Enawo first struck land.
The storm had since been downgraded from an intense tropical cyclone to a tropical storm with winds gusting at 130 kph, domestic weather bulletins said.
It was moving towards the capital Antananarivo on Wednesday and the weather service said it was about 500 km away at about midday. There was no immediate comment by officials on whether it was likely to cause damage in the capital.
Prime Minister Olivier Mahafaly said the government had been unable to assess the damage caused by the storm as the affected areas were still inaccessible.
Emergency assistance including tents, food and small boats was ready to be sent to the areas once the storm cleared.
"We will do our best with our own resources but we will make an emergency declaration if necessary, if the damage will be significant," he told reporters in his office.
Rivo Randrianarison, the head of the local weather service said it was one of the country's worst storms in recent years.
"Enawo is of the same intensity as those which have wreaked havoc like Indlala in 2007, Ivan in 2008, Gafilo in 2004 or Giovanna in 2012," he said on national radio.
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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