Cyclone Patsyrai leaves 20 dead and destroys rice fields in Madagascar

Arab weather - Cyclone Batsirai receded in Madagascar on Monday morning without reaching the main cities, and left 20 people dead, according to the latest toll issued by the authorities, as the tropical cyclone hit Madagascar on Saturday night. in the Indian Ocean.

The hurricane reached the eastern coast of the Big Island, which was accompanied by heavy rain and winds of 165 km / h, after it hit the French island of Reunion. The cyclone first hit an agricultural coastal area extending over 150 km and sparsely populated, before heading west into the country, causing floods in rivers that destroyed rice fields in the center of the country, which is considered Madagascar's "reservoir", which raises fears of an exacerbation of the humanitarian situation, according to a warning. for UNICEF.

Jean Benoît Manhes, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Madagascar, told AFP that Cyclone Patsyrai left Madagascar at seven in the morning local time, heading to the Gulf of Mozambique.

"The effects of the hurricane do not end today, but will last for several months, especially in terms of affecting agricultural crops," Manhees warned.

Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world, was hit a month ago by Tropical Storm "I" and led to 55 deaths on the island and tens of thousands of victims.

This time, the hurricane did not reach the capital, Antananarivo, and the country's main port, Matatav (northeast), which helped reduce the number of dead and injured compared to what the authorities and non-governmental organizations feared, which estimated that 500,000 people were affected and 140,000 people were displaced.

UNICEF reported that "the cyclone destroyed the roofs of hundreds of schools and health centers" in the affected areas. She considered that the outcome is large on an island where 77% of the population is classified below the poverty line and suffers from a severe drought in the south, which has pushed more than a million people to the brink of severe malnutrition and some of them to starvation.

Batserai destroyed the main road linking the island from north to south, "which will make it difficult to reach and secure support for a number of villages, including in drought areas," according to Manhes, who stressed that "Madagascar suffers from a permanent humanitarian crisis."