Just a few days ago, Cyclone Haruna swept by on the West coast of Madagascar. This is very unusual, most cyclones, hurricanes, and tropical storms take place on the East coast.
Man-made disaster?
We happened to be on the West coast of Madagascar, in Morondava - more than 200 km above the eye of the storm. The cyclone, impressive as it was, did not do much damage there, but in Tulear it created massive flooding. It killed 13 people and affected over 17.000 poor souls. Not so much because of the winds themselves but because of a dyke which... had not been maintained for years. Sadly, that is how natural disasters become man-made ones...
Stranded
Stranded during this unexpected beach vacation, we heard 150 km winds hauling over our 5-star beach bungalows. The horizontal rains gushed under our doors. The swimming pool turned into a wave pool. But our hotel had taken precautions and no major damage was done. Air Madagascar cancelled all flights and let us wait three more days in windy beach paradise. Every day we'd walk the Morondave strip, 80% of its restaurants and hotels closed.
Sardine tins
The winds, still strong on Saturday, brought great pleasure to the children. Armed with: an empty sardine tin, four plastic bottle tops, and a plastic bag they held amazing car races that would make John Travolta long back to Grease! The T-birds against the Scorpions!
Watch the T-birds against the Scorpions on the Morondava strip:
Enjoy this little movie! I'm sure it will make you smile...and isn't that what we need after this horrendous Haruna?
Man-made disaster?
We happened to be on the West coast of Madagascar, in Morondava - more than 200 km above the eye of the storm. The cyclone, impressive as it was, did not do much damage there, but in Tulear it created massive flooding. It killed 13 people and affected over 17.000 poor souls. Not so much because of the winds themselves but because of a dyke which... had not been maintained for years. Sadly, that is how natural disasters become man-made ones...
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| Lot of rain in paradise |
Stranded during this unexpected beach vacation, we heard 150 km winds hauling over our 5-star beach bungalows. The horizontal rains gushed under our doors. The swimming pool turned into a wave pool. But our hotel had taken precautions and no major damage was done. Air Madagascar cancelled all flights and let us wait three more days in windy beach paradise. Every day we'd walk the Morondave strip, 80% of its restaurants and hotels closed.
Sardine tins
The winds, still strong on Saturday, brought great pleasure to the children. Armed with: an empty sardine tin, four plastic bottle tops, and a plastic bag they held amazing car races that would make John Travolta long back to Grease! The T-birds against the Scorpions!
Watch the T-birds against the Scorpions on the Morondava strip:
Enjoy this little movie! I'm sure it will make you smile...and isn't that what we need after this horrendous Haruna?
Holiday
ReplyDeleteYes, I have been looking for this all day better now than never!