The United Nations World Food Program (WFP), in collaboration with the government of Madagascar, has begun distributing humanitarian aid to people affected by storm Batsirai, which caused at least 20 deaths in the country, the organization said Monday..

In a statement, WFP said the first food aid packages will go to 2,000 families affected by the cyclone, which destroyed more than 3,000 homes in its path across the island.

Members of that UN agency, who are working on the ground, reported that the town of Mananjary on Madagascar's east coast, the area where Batsirai hit the island last Saturday, has been completely devastated, and access to the site is only possible by air.

"The affected families are in a situation of total destitution," said WFP's representative in Madagascar, Pasqualina di Sirio.

The cyclone, which reached wind gusts of 235 kilometers per hour, caused flooding, destroyed buildings, and triggered power outages, among other property damage.

The African island had already been affected last month by several storms, including Ana, that killed at least 116 people, while southern Madagascar is suffering from an unprecedented drought.