A tropical cyclone hit the island nation of Madagascar twice between Jan. 28 and Feb. 2, blowing roofs from houses of sponsored children, destroying crops and damaging CFCA's project office in Antsirabe.

"As we gathered the information, we thank God that none of the [CFCA] families was injured," the Antsirabe project team reported in an e-mail. "Thanks a lot for your prayers; we've been living in a great worry."

The Antsirabe project office reopened Feb. 5 after being closed two days because of high winds and heavy rains. Wind speeds reached in excess of 110 miles per hour, the project reported.

"The night of Feb. 2, we experienced very strong and unbelievable winds," the project team wrote.

The storm, dubbed Elita, caused at least four deaths and left some 13,000 people homeless on the island, after striking for the second time in a week, the U.N. Integrated Regional Information Networks reported in a copyrighted story on its Web site and allAfrica.com. The storm first went ashore Jan. 28, causing heavy damage in the northwestern Mahajanga province.

Elita drifted back out over the Mozambique Channel and strengthened before going ashore again near Morondava, NASA's Earth Observatory reported on its Web site.

At this writing, there was no word from CFCA's project in Morondava on the effects of the cyclone there. CFCA anticipates increased needs at the project since the cyclone went ashore near the town. Communication in Morondava is hindered by a lack of infrastructure including telephone service,
e-mail access and postal service.

Madagascar is an Indian Ocean island located 240 miles southeast of the African mainland. CFCA has two projects in the country, in Antsirabe and Morondava.

The Antsirabe project, located in Madagascar's central highlands region, serves 273 children. At this writing, the project was working to assess needs of sponsored families and damage to CFCA property.

One of the CFCA buildings severely damaged was the Canteen, the project reported. The facility is critical because it is used as a community center, and meals for sponsored children are served there.

The Morondava project is located south of Antsirabe on the west coast. There are 517 children and aging persons sponsored through the Morondava project.

The CFCA community throughout Madagascar appreciates thoughts and prayers at this difficult time. Please include a notation of CYLAN in any communication with CFCA regarding the cyclone's aftermath.