05/17/2013 18:50 GMT

by Shafiq Alam

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh, May 17, 2013 (AFP) - Bangladesh and Myanmar cleaned up on Friday after a killer cyclone wrecked tens of thousands of homes, relieved that the damage was not much worse after the storm weakened as it made landfall.

At least 48 people were either killed by Cyclone Mahasen or while trying to flee its impact, including 31 Muslim Rohingya whose bodies washed up on the shores of Bangladesh after their boat capsized while sailing from Myanmar.

05/15/2013 11:12 GMT

COLOMBO, May 15, 2013 (AFP) - At least seven people have been killed and two are missing in floods and mudslides following heavy rain across Sri Lanka, the disaster management centre said Wednesday.

A tropical cyclone east of the island did not make landfall but caused unusually heavy rain in the past two days which triggered flash floods, the Disaster Management Centre said.

Five of the dead drowned in flooding while two were buried in mudslides.

05/14/2013 15:27 GMT

by Phyo Hein Kyaw

Sittwe, Myanmar, May 14, 2013 (AFP) - Rescuers were on Tuesday searching for 58 missing Rohingya Muslims whose boat capsized in western Myanmar as they fled a looming cyclone, state media said, as the storm threatened thousands living in makeshift camps.

The boat, which sank after hitting rocks in a coastal waterway on Monday night, was one of seven vessels carrying Rohingya seeking out higher ground from a camp in Pauktaw township in Rakhine state, according to state television.

05/12/2013 10:18 GMT

YANGON, May 12, 2013 (AFP) - Myanmar on Sunday began moving people into emergency shelters as a cyclone threatened to batter a violence-wracked region home to tens of thousands of internal refugees.

About 140,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in flimsy tents or makeshift housing are seen as particularly vulnerable to cyclone Mahasen, which was gathering strength in the Bay of Bengal.

03/20/2013 04:10 GMT

by Gaelle Borgia

TOLIARA, Madagascar, March 20, 2013 (AFP) - With small, silent steps, 10-year-old Borikely carefully picks her way through the tall grass of a Madagascar field in search of her dinner. She's hunting for grasshoppers, which she'll catch with a stick.

Once speared, she places them carefully in a small round straw basket and within a few minutes, she has collected dozens of insects.

03/18/2013 22:31 GMT

WASHINGTON, 18 mars 2013 (AFP) - Un réchauffement de deux degrés de la planète pourrait entraîner une décuplement du nombre des ouragans de grande puissance, selon une étude d'un climatologue danois publiée lundi aux Etats-Unis.

02/23/2013
17:29 GMT

ANTANANARIVO, Feb 23, 2013 (AFP) - Tropical cyclone Haruna and rains that lashed the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar killed 10 people and affected nearly 3,000 this week, the disaster management agency said Saturday.

The cyclone struck on Friday morning in the southwest region and left the island 24 hours later, having claimed six lives and hurt 17, it said. Four other people were killed in torrential rain earlier in the week.

Heavy rains had pounded the island before strong gusts of wind reaching speeds of 200 kmh (125 mph).

02/02/2013 16:36 GMT

ANTANANARIVO, 02 fév 2013 (AFP) - Six personnes ont été tuées et trois ont disparu après le passage du cyclone tropical Felleng, qui s'est éloigné de Madagascar, selon un bilan établi samedi par le Bureau national de gestion des risques et catastrophes (BNGRC).

"Felleng est parti, il est maintenant à 500 km à l'est de Fort-Dauphin (sud), nous avons comptabilisé six morts, trois disparus et environ 800 sinistrés dans la capitale", a déclaré à l'AFP au téléphone le secrétaire exécutif du BNGRC, Raymond Randriatahina.

01/23/2013 10:03 GMT

MANILA, Jan 23, 2013 (AFP) - Six people have died and four others are missing in floods that swept through a southern Philippine region still reeling from a deadly typhoon disaster, authorities said Wednesday.

Days of heavy rains on Mindanao island left the major city of Davao and nine nearby towns flooded, including areas that were devastated by Typhoon Bopha in early December, the civil defence office said.