Sharjah24 - AFP: Powerful tropical Cyclone Freddy tore through parts of Madagascar on Wednesday, killing four people on the Indian Ocean island, disaster management authorities said.
A 27-year-old man drowned in rising sea waters on Tuesday just before the storm, which packed winds of around 130 kilometres per hour (80 miles per hour), made landfall.
But on Wednesday authorities put the toll at four.
The storm has affected 16,600 people, according to the country's National Risk Management Office (BNGRC).
It brought less rains than feared, but strong winds ripped roofs off buildings and flattened rice fields and fruit trees.
The storm landed north of Mananjary, a coastal town of 25,000 people that remains devastated by last year's Cyclone Batsirai, which killed more than 130 people across Madagascar.
"It's a dry cyclone compared to Batsirai, so it brought less rains, but the winds were stronger, this why infrastructure was badly affected," risk management senior official Faly Aritiana Fabien told AFP.
"The recorded damage is almost only related to the wind," said Fabien.
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