Madagascar: Picking up after Cyclone Fame

The authorities and aid agencies in Madagascar are coming to grips with the destruction left by cyclone Fame; although there is room for improvement, the response so far has shown that the 2007 cyclone season taught valuable lessons. In late December tropical cyclone Fame made landfall in the northwest of the island "as a category one, meaning winds of 120 to 150 kilometres per hour," said Edouard Libeau, Emergency Specialist at the UN's Children Fund (UNICEF) in Madagascar. Fame tore through the centre of the island and then slowly dissipated as it moved east towards the Indian Ocean.