New figures for the number of people affected by Cyclone Indlala, which hit Madagascar on March 15, show that the storm caused more harm than previously reported. A large part of Madagascar now faces a potential food crisis.
The Madagascar government is officially reporting that about 90,000 people were affected by the storm, but it has been difficult to reach many of the more remote areas and new information about the extent of the damage has been filtering in slowly. An aerial survey by CARE in the northeast part of the country, along with surveys by other international organizations, indicate that more than 200,000 people were affected in two districts, Antahala and Maroantsetra, that were hit hardest by the storm.
Didier Young, CARE’s emergency coordinator in Madagascar says he expects the figures to climb higher. “I would say that at minimum more than 200,000 have been affected in those two districts and that there are at least 75,000 people there who have either lost their homes completely or whose houses are now under water, and they are in urgent need of immediate relief,” says Young. Young adds that those figures will go higher when other districts report in.
CARE has been distributing nearly 60 tons of food provided by the World Food Program — mostly rice and beans — in Antalaha for the last three days. An additional 135 tons of food provided by the WFP is currently en route for distribution in Maroantsetra.
Much of the damage was done by torrential rains to crops that were about to be harvested. People fear that most of the main rice harvest, which was due in May, has been destroyed. The vanilla harvest, which provides the principal source of income in this part of Madagascar, has also largely been destroyed by the wind.
CARE has been working in Madagascar since 1992 and is currently running 18 development projects, while responding to two earlier emergencies. More than 1 million Malagasy are estimated to benefit from CARE’s assistance.
