Cyclone Batsirai nears Madagascar, 'widespread damage' fearedCyclone Batsirai is set to hit eastern Madagascar after passing Mauritius and La ReunionVATOMANDRY (MADAGASCAR) - Powerful Cyclone Batsirai was closing in on eastern Madagascar Saturday as residents sought secure shelter or reinforced their roofs with sandbags after warnings that "widespread damage" was feared. "Significant and widespread damage is therefore feared," warned the metereological services. Community leader Thierry Louison Leaby lamented the lack of clean water after the water utility company turned off supplies ahead of the cyclone. The impact of Batsirai on Madagascar is expected to be "considerable", Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN's humanitarian organisation OCHA, told reporters in Geneva on Friday. "We are very nervous," Pasqualina Di Sirio, who heads the WFP's programme in Madagascar, told reporters by video-link from the island.

Source: Bangkok Post February 06, 2022 01:09 UTC