Cyclone Indlala came ashore on the island of Madagascar on March 15, 2007, as a Category 3 storm, according to data provided by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The storm was the country’s sixth hit of the 2006-2007 storm season. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite shows Indlala draped over the northern part of the island. Bands of swirling clouds spiral around the eye of the storm.
According to Reuters AlertNet news service, Madagascar’s emergency response resources were taxed to their limit in early March 2007 as a result of extensive flooding in the North, drought and food shortages in the South, and three previous hits from cyclones in the preceding few months: Bondo in December 2006, Clovis in January 2007, and Gamede in February. The arrival of Indlala interrupted emergency relief efforts and worsened an already difficult situation.
You can download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone Indlala KMZ file for use with Google Earth.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center.
