Flooding in the districts of Mitsinjo and Maevatanana has claimed at least 21 lives since Sunday, with 20 more people missing while thousands are displaced, the National Bureau of Disaster Risk Management announced this on Friday.
The tropical Indian Ocean nation is in the midst of an intense six-month rainy season that often leads to casualties and widespread damage.
It became worsen as Strips of the road were swept away by the rains which has denied access to affected areas.
Meanwhile, the BNGRC has warned that flooding in lowland and rice-growing areas posed a risk of “food insecurity and malnutrition”.
A disruption in the supply of basic goods could also lead to a surge in prices, it added.
Opposition lawmaker Hanitriniaina Razafimanantsoa called on President Andry Rajoelina to declare a “natural disaster”.
The rainy season usually stretches from October to April in Madagascar, a former French colony off Africa’s southeastern coast.
Recall that Nine people were killed in January 2019 after heavy rains caused the collapse of a building in the capital Antananarivo.
During this period, the country is also often hit by cyclones and other tropical storms.
Cyclone Belna landed in the northwest last month, killing at least two people and displacing hundreds.