Madagascar: in sore need of attention

There was symmetry to the disasters. Bondo struck in December. Clovis in January, and Gamede the following month, bringing with it the heaviest rains in 27 years. So the landfall of cyclone Indlala in Madagascar on March 15 was almost inevitable, even if the scale of the damage wasn't, writes Xan Rice.

Madagascan authorities said yesterday that 69 people in the north of the island died in the 165mph winds, with 78,000 left homeless. The lives of more than 200,000 people have been affected.