Antananarivo (Madagascar): The toll from Cyclone Ivan has risen to 44 dead and 145,000 homeless in Madagascar, the government said today.

Eastern parts of the Indian Ocean island remain cut off by flood waters, more than a week after the cyclone hit February 17 carrying winds of up to 230 kph and torrential rains.

According to a government statement, the worst affected is Fenerive Este district, where out of a population of 281,000,more than 80,000 have lost their homes and up to 70 percent of buildings have been destroyed.

The cyclone first struck the island of Sainte Marie, a popular tourist resort that is home to 19,000 - nearly half of whom lost their homes. Emergency medical supplies have been exhausted on Sainte Marie.

According to the Ministry of Transport, seven major roads remain cut, hampering attempts to deliver relief. Bridges also have been destroyed.

In the premier rice-growing region of Alaotra Mangoro, which provides 30 percent of the island s staple food, 15,000 hectares of fields have been flooded, threatening serious food shortages.

A relief effort is under way led by President Marc Ravalomanana, who is also the richest businessman in the country, providing rice, yoghurt, cheese and money to some of the hardest hit areas on the east coast. The US government has donated USD 100,000.

The government said 211,000 people, more than 1 per cent of the population of the island, have been affected in some way by the cyclone.

Source : PTI