Cyclone Ivan
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发布于: 11年前
Cyclone Ivan
REPORTER: In 2005 we all looked on in awe at the devastation of New Orleans at the hands of hurricane Katrina but the wider world barely noticed recently, when a storm of very similar power and ferocity struck remote Eastern Madagascar. Cyclone Ivan destroyed tens of thousands of homes and one region alone there were at least a hundred deaths. Ivan the terrible raised havoc on some of the poorest people on earth, they can expect almost no help from anyone but our correspondent Johnny Hog found them determined to pick themselves up, rebuild and get on with their lives.
JOHNNY HOG: Doctor Gilbert Tarahue's face darkens as he looks at the satellite picture of Madagascar. On it a band of rain is clearly visible in the ocean to the north of the island. It means that more bad weather could be on the way. Doctor Terahue is the government's head of region for Analanjirofo on the country's east coast. At the moment though, he looks more like a general who having weathered a huge attack at great cost has discovered that the enemy is amassing once more.
If Madagascar's annual cyclone season can be seen as a battle against the forces of nature then this year more than ever. There has been an effort to coordinate an effective response with NGO's and government working closely together to try and minimize the impact. The problem is cyclone Ivan was enormous. In Analanjirofo alone 80000 people have lost their homes. In just a few hours, Doctor Terahue told me, the storm destroyed this beautiful region.
It did not take long for people here to adopt the moniker "Ivan the terrible". As we drove into the cyclone's path some days after it hit, it was clear why. At first there seemed to be something almost petulant about the destruction; a tree uprooted here, a house flattened there, apparently indiscriminate violence. As we traveled north though, the devastation became more and more comprehensive. Everywhere the ruins of wooden huts were visible, some neatly folded in on themselves like flat packed furniture, others smashed apart. The lush vegetation which covers the undulating terrain of Madagascar's eastern coast has been severely damaged and despite all the rain, the leaves on many of the trees have turned an autumnal brown. Apparently the force of the wind twisted the trees so vigorously that they lost the ability to draw water up from their roots.
The residents of this region are some of the poorest in the world. Yet despite all the damage, it is hard to feel sorry for people who confront this latest threat to their precarious existence with such calm resilience. Everywhere echoes to the sound of hammering as reconstruction continues a pace. We visited a school in the town of Fenerive-Est, the metal roofs of all seven classrooms had been simply peeled off by the wind. Nonetheless there was a constant happy chatter, every small hand had to be shaken and as we left, the teachers marshaled their wards into an impromptu choir.
The village Ambudiazenin lies thirteen torturous miles north of Fenerive-Est. Surrounding by forest; the air vibrates to the sound of bird calls and as night falls the engine drone of the Sicarders. I was told that almost the entire settlement had been destroyed by the cyclone. I pointed out that this evidently wasn't true as we were surrounded by huts. "Oh yes" they told me, "but we've rebuilt."
Suzu is sixteen years old; she was using a bamboo cane as a makeshift crutch. She had fallen during the cyclone and badly twisted her knee then her house had collapsed on her and she had been trapped there overnight until her parents rescued her. Suzu's house is being rebuilt, but not everyone has been so lucky. Amerdine is thirty six years old and as she stood on a raised platform, which is all the remains of her house. She looks like a politician about to deliver an important speech. "This was the biggest cyclone I have ever seen" she told me, "I cannot afford to rebuild, our money was in our crops but they have been destroyed." I asked her whether she expected help from outside; she shrugged "Maybe, we've never been helped before but perhaps this time people will come with lots of money. " She smiles at her own joke.
Amerdine's plight highlights another aspect of this cyclone. Crops have been devastated and many now face the prospect of having no harvest until November. Health workers say they are already seeing cases of malnutrition.
Lauren Tumbu was sitting outside the ruins of his hut preparing the evening meal when I met him. "Before the cyclone my rice crops were just ripening, now everything is gone" he explained. This perhaps is the most worrying impact of cyclone Ivan's passing. Not the lightening quick assault of the storm itself, but the lingering prospect of food shortages and starvation which may follow. I had finished my interview with Lauren when my translator told me he had something to add, "I am very worried about food" he said, "and I must provide for my family, I will replant and we will survive. We cannot give up." There, I thought, is that resilience again.
REPORTER: Johnny Hog in Madagascar.
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