Tropical storm Eliakim kills 17 in Madagascar: authorities

At least 17 people died when a tropical storm hit eastern Madagascar over the weekend, authorities said.

More than 6,000 people were displaced by the storm, called Eliakim, the National Office of Risk and Disaster Management said in a statement late on Sunday.

The tropical storm hit the island’s Mananara region, 635 km north-east of Antananarivo, on Saturday night and had a wind speed of 85 km per hour and gusts of 120 km per hour.

SOS #Madagascar Cyclone #Eliakim: at least 17 dead, 15772 residents affected, 1271 homes flooded and 648 destroyed according to NBDRM/BNGRCBagalueSunab theglobalworld WFP_ADAM Themebar Africanewsu AlJazeerah CNNWeatherUNOCHA_ROSEA RoshinRowjee pic.twitter.com/ECD3eiiA8B

— Hasina Rakotondraina (Hasinakl) March 19, 2018

Tropical Storm #Eliakim has brought flooding and some loss of life in #Madagascar over the weekend. The storm is now moving south-east away from land. https://t.co/0TeWglrYLS pic.twitter.com/rNQKXTDbuE

— Met Office Storms (@metofficestorms) March 19, 2018

NIEUWS | Delen van #Madagascar zijn de afgelopen dagen getroffen door de tropische cycloon #Eliakim. Vooral de regio Mananara is flink getroffen. Windstoten tot 120 km/u kwamen voorbij. Lokaal ook 200 millimeter in 24 uur tijd | https://t.co/eJazDpvxPR pic.twitter.com/QRvmvhimcR

— RobertDeVries.net (@weermanrobert) March 19, 2018

In January, the island’s disaster management office said Tropical Cyclone Ava killed 51 people.