‘Widespread damage’ feared as Cyclone Batsirai hits Madagascar

Batsirai made landfall in Mananjary district, more than 530 kilometres (310 miles) southeast of the capital Antananarivo, amid warnings of "widespread damage".The national meteorological office had earlier forecast winds of up to 165 kilometres per hour (102 miles per hour).The Meteo-France weather service, meanwhile, had warned of winds of up to 260 kilometres per hour (162 miles per hour) and waves as high as 15 metres (50 feet).In the hours before the cyclone hit, residents hunkered down in the impoverished country, still recovering from the deadly Tropical Storm Ana late last month.In the eastern coastal town of Vatomandry, more than 200 people were crammed in one room in a Chinese-owned concrete building. Community leader Thierry Louison Leaby lamented the lack of clean water after the water utility compan turned off supplies ahead of the cyclone.Outside plastic dishes and buckets were placed in a line to catch rainwater dripping from the corrugated roofing sheets.Residents who chose to remain in their homes used sandbags and yellow jerrycans to buttress their roofs."We have been stocking up for a week, rice but also grains because with the electricity cuts we cannot keep meat or fish," said Odette Nirina, 65, a hotelier in Vatomandry. Winds of more than 50 kilometres per hour (30 miles per hour) pummelled Vatomandry Saturday morning, accompanied by intermittent rain.The United Nations said it was ramping up its preparedness with aid agencies, placing rescue aircraft on standby and stockpiling humanitarian supplies.At least 131,000 people were affected by Ana across Madagascar in late January. At least 58 people were killed, mostly in the capital Antananarivo.The UN's World Food Programme pointed to estimates from national authorities that some 595,000 people could be directly affected by Batsirai, and 150,000 more might be displaced due to new landslides and flooding.Search and rescue teams have been placed on alert."The gusts of wind are going to be very strong. That's why we're reinforcing the roofs," he told AFP.burs-str-sn/ah...