Cyclone Batsirai made landfall in Madagascar at 20h local time, says regional centre Météo-France.
Sustained average wind speed of 167 km/h was recorded at a station near the eye wall.
“Our thoughts are with the people of Madagascar,” it said.
Madagascar is bracing for a new cyclone even as the Indian Ocean island recovers from a tropical storm that wreaked devastation last month, CGTN reported.
Cyclone Batsirai is forecast to hit the island’s east coast on Saturday with heavy winds and rains, according to Madagascar’s Department of Meteorology.
The storm has already blown by the islands of Mauritius and Reunion, killing at least one person in Mauritius and causing widespread power cuts.
In January, Cyclone Ana and other heavy rains in Madagascar caused 55 deaths and made 131,000 people homeless. About 15,000 people have not yet been able to return to their homes, according to the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management.
Batsirai may be even more destructive and could force 150,000 people to leave their homes and badly affect about 595,000 others, according to officials.
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