"Elita" pays a destructive return visit

Four people have been killed and 13,000 left homeless after tropical cyclone "Elita" returned to Madagascar for the second time in a week. Elita, which left two people dead and 5,000 homeless after its first visit on 28 January, approached the west coast early on Tuesday and was moving inland, local newspaper L'Gazette reported on Wednesday. "The situation can be said to be very serious but there is still uncertainty about the extent of the damage, although we have received information that 90 percent of the buildings in Maineirano district (northwestern Mahajanga province) have been destroyed by the rains. This has affected 7,000 people," UN Resident Coordinator, Bouri Sanhouidi, told IRIN. Those left homeless had found refuge in stadiums and the few public buildings left standing. "The humanitarian community has already been at work to rehabilitate the schools ... and have started to provide the affected families with food aid. There are also concerns over the spread of waterborne disease, but there are plans to provide communities with water purification tablets," Sanhouidi said. Authorities have yet to launch an official appeal for emergency assistance. After Elita first hit the Indian Ocean island, local authorities appealed for 30 mt of rice, four mt of sugar, building materials and mosquito nets to assist destitute households. Neighbouring Mozambique's National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) told IRIN on Wednesday that residents of four coastal provinces had been put on alert after Elita whipped up winds reaching 130 kilometers per hour in the Mozambique channel. "So far, we have just experienced very strong winds but there have been no reports of causalities. It is likely that some crops have been damaged by the winds but that has not been confirmed," INGC spokesman Rogerio Manguele said. The greater part of the Mozambican coast, from Nampula in the north to Inhambane in the south, was suffering the effects of the storm, he added.