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MAPUTO. – Tropical storm Ana has killed 34 people in Madagascar and two in Mozambique, and four in Malawi, leaving the country without power in recent days, according to reports released on Tuesday by authorities in the three countries.

The storm, which formed in the east of the large island of Madagascar, triggered heavy rains that caused flooding and landslides in the capital Antananarivo. According to a report by the disaster management agency on Tuesday, 34 people have died and nearly 65 000 others have been left homeless since the end of last week.

After crossing the Indian Ocean, Ana’s heavy rains hit northern and central Mozambique. Two people were killed and 49 injured in Zambezia province, according to the Mozambican National Risk Management Institute.

The storm has the potential to affect “highly vulnerable populations who have already recently suffered from natural disasters and conflicts in northern Mozambique,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned.

The Mozambican government and UN agencies estimate that 500000 people will be affected by Ana in the provinces of Nampula, Zambezia and Sofala.

In neighbouring Malawi, where the storm plunged most of the country into darkness on Monday, the district commissioner for Chikwawa confirmed three more deaths, after the disaster department on Tuesday reported a death in Mulanje.  – AFP