Cyclone hits Madagascar, at least three dead

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.

According to Reuters, Enawo struck the northeast village of Ampahana on Tuesday morning,
destroying roads and communications links to the Antalaha district on the vanilla-producing
northeastern coast.

“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.

The streets of the capital were deserted as people stayed away from work and schools. Prime
Minister Olivier Mahafaly ordered employers to allow workers to stay home to avoid the danger of
rising water and more landslides.

About 500 people left their homes to take shelter in a sports academy after the Andriantany
canal, which is used to drain waste water from the city, overflowed.

“Two houses were evacuated. A tree fell on a car and another tree had to be cut because it was
dangerous,” said fire chief Michel Rabemanantsoa.

Mahafaly said the government had been unable to assess the damage caused by the storm as the
affected areas were still inaccessible.