Thirty-six people were killed and nearly 54,000 people were left homeless after a cyclone struck northern Madagascar last week, according to revised figures released on Wednesday. "Today we count 36 dead and 53,750 affected people," Jacky Randriaharison, the head of national emergencies bureau BNGRC, told AFP.
Some 30,300 of the displaced lived in Maroantsetra, situated about 550 kilometres (340 miles) northeast of the capital, while 9,000 were in the northern town of Ambanja, Randriaharison said.
At least five people have also been reported missing, according to BNGRC.
A toll on Monday said cyclone Indlala, the deadliest of the six to have hit Madagascar so far this season, had killed 12 people and displaced 14,000.
"In terms of destruction, it is almost as bad as Gafilo," Randriaharison said, referring to a cyclone that ravaged the Indian Ocean island in March 2004, leaving 241 people dead.
French defence attache Franck Reignier said it was only when rescuers reached the scene was the extent of the damage fully realised.
French navy helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc delivered some 40 tonnes of relief supplies to the coastal town of Antalaha, 570 kilometres northeast of the capital.
