Ivan the Terrible, came, did not even look, ravaged the Big Island, and left. But some fear that he might return. (Malaza of 2008/2/19)
The Express newspaper, refers to Ivan as the Cyclone of Hundreds of Disasters. And another calls Ivan “Ilaifito”, which could be translated as “Seven Days of Rain.”
It seems that at about 6h00 on the 18th of February the cyclone went through St Marie, where it caused great damage. It was imossible to communicate with St Marie seeing that all telephone and radio links were destroyed. Nine (9) people were killed when a hotel collapsed on them. It is also estimated that 90% of the infrastructure of the Island was damaged.
Ivan reached speeds of 210km/h.
The assessment in figures
Sainte-Marie District : 9 people buried under the debris
Fénérive-Is District : 2 dead, 271 disaster victims
Soanierana Ivongo District : Administrative and school buildings damaged
Foulpointe District : floating bridge damaged
Toamasina District : 155 homeless people
Nosy Varika District : houses of the low districts and rivers flooded
Andilamena District : 30 destroyed people homeless person, 19 boxes, 9 dead oxen
Mahajanga I District : 542 homeless people
Moramanga District : 4 863 disaster victims in the commune of Andasibe
Brickaville District : road to 20 km of Brickaville towards Toamasina crossed, following the rise of water
Mandritsara District : 60% of town flooded, 90 disaster victims
Southern Midongy District : rise of water
Befotaka District : rise of water and roads cut towards the rural villages
(From the Express Newspaper. It was translated using Babelfish, so the Funny English is not my invention!)
These figures are not final figures. It does not, for example, mention the people that died in Belo-sur-Tsribihina. And there are people living in remote areas who do not even know that that “wind” was caled Ivan, so it is certain that we do not know about their suffering yet.
Toamasina is on the east coast, Mahajanga on the west, and Mandritsara in the center. This should give some indication of the area of the country afected by Ivan.
It is impossible to explain here the devastation caused by Ivan. That explains the absence of pictures.
How do I write about the families that lost there food? Or the people that lost their houses? And what about the children who lost a mother or father due to Ivan? How do I write about that?
Those nine people who died in St Marie, who were they? Were they family? Were they friends? Were they Christians? Did it hurt? Were they scared?
How does it feel when you are swept off your feet by a 210km/h wind and then thrown into a river where you drown? How does that feel? What do you think? Do you realise what is happening? Or is everything so quick and confused that you dont even realise that you are dying?
If you are interested in helping, check out Hoveraid. They are currently busy assisting people affected by Ivan.
Filed under: Report
