Madagascar is bracing for the worst after Cyclone Batsirai made landfall late Saturday bringing heavy rains and winds of more than 160 km per hour.
Cyclone Batsirai is the second major storm in less than two weeks.
Last month Cyclone Ana left 55 dead in its wake and a trail of massive destruction of infrastructure and housing.
This time around, authorities moved vulnerable people to shelters before Cyclone Batsirai arrived, but local officials fear landslides and flooding could leave tens of thousands more homeless.
As many as 4 million islanders are at risk from the tropical cyclone that has been tracked for days.
Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about 400 km off the coast of East Africa across the Mozambique Channel.
