Madagascar: At least 12 dead in tropical cyclone Alvaro

At least 12 people have been killed by Tropical Cyclone Alvaro which hit Madagascar at the beginning of this month, the country’s disaster management agency said.

The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said Tuesday that the victims include a mother and her three children who were buried under the rubble after a landslide.

At least 9,500 other people have been displaced due to flooding and landslides and are living in temporary shelters.

The cyclone damaged several infrastructures including more than 400 housing units, classrooms as well as thousands of hectares of rice plantation, the agency said.

Atsimo-Andrefana, Haute Matsiatra and Menabe are the worst-hit regions of Madagascar.

Elack Andriankaja, Director General of the agency, also indicated that 59 schools lost their roofs and 15 had their walls destroyed. Pupils in Morombe, another region affected, are forced to continue their lessons in the open air, under the trees.

It is not the first time the country is being hit by cyclones. The African country is prone to climate-related disasters. In January and February last year Cyclone Cheneso hit the country killing 33 people and affected more than 90,000.