Cyclone Patsirai in Madagascar kills 21 people, displaces more than 60,000

SANAA, Feb. 08 (YPA) – Twenty-one people were killed and more than 60,000 displaced in Madagascar due to Cyclone Patsirai, which hit the country on Saturday evening.

According to Reuters, residents of a coastal town in Madagascar that was battered by Cyclone Batsirai over the weekend were left picking through the wreckage of their homes on Monday, collecting soaking wet clothing and anything else worth salvaging.

The cyclone killed 21 people and displaced more than 60,000 after it slammed into the Indian Ocean island late on Saturday,

The cyclone caused homes and power lines to be demolished along the southeast coast until it moved late Sunday.

It also destroyed crops of rice, fruits and vegetables that were close to being harvested, worsening a food shortage in an area that was already struggling with the consequences of a severe drought, the United Nations’ food aid agency said.

“The impact was severe and harsh and we are still counting casualties,” said Pasqualina Di Sirio, country director for the United Nations’ World Food Programme in Madagascar.

She said the destruction of rice crops so close to harvesting had made a bad situation worse and would be felt for six months. Fruit and vegetable patches had also been destroyed.

E.M