The CARE International relief organization reports that the storm then made a second landfall in the Sava region, where it damaged nearly 80 percent of the houses located near the shore of Helodrano Antongila Bay.

The affected area is home to numerous coffee, clove and vanilla bean plantations, and officials fear that many of the crops may have been lost or heavily damaged by Bingiza.

Madagascar’s National Bureau of Risk Management and Disaster said that flooding had cut off supply routes to the disaster area, but helicopters were being used to survey the damage and provide initial assistance.

The cyclone later drenched many northwestern parts of the island.

It was expected to bring heavy rains to the south late in the week as it regained some strength while partially passing over the warm waters of the Mozambique Channel.

Cyclone Bingiza Track

Satellite Loop Data: CIMSS