Cyclone Freddy hits Madagascar, four killed

Powerful tropical Cyclone Freddy tore through parts of Madagascar, killing four people on the Indian Ocean island, disaster management authorities said.

A 27-year-old man drowned in rising sea waters just before the storm, which packed winds of around 130 kilometres per hour, made landfall.

But authorities put the toll at four.

The storm has affected 16,600 people, according to the country's National Risk Management Office.

It brought less rain than feared, but strong winds ripped roofs off buildings and flattened rice fields and fruit trees.

The storm landed north of Mananjary, a coastal town of 25,000 people that remains devastated by last year's Cyclone Batsirai, which killed more than 130 people across Madagascar.

"It's a dry cyclone compared to Batsirai, so it brought less rain, but the winds were stronger, this is why infrastructure was badly affected," risk management senior official Faly Aritiana Fabien said.

Despite thousands of sandbags used to reinforce roofs, metal sheets were strewn onto the ground by the force of the wind.

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) estimates more than 2.3 million people in Madagascar could be affected by Freddy and that the cyclone will then pass through Mozambique and Zimbabwe on the African mainland.

At least 8,000 people were evacuated as a precaution in the Mananjary district but were expected to return to their homes in a day or two.