At least four people have died as a result of tropical cyclone Freddy, which hit Madagascar this evening, according to the country's National Disaster Risk Management Office (BNGRC).

Bad weather accompanied by strong winds on the east coast has killed "4 people" on the large Indian Ocean island, affecting a total of 16,660 people, according to the latest BNGRC report.

Around 3,300 houses were flooded and almost as many were damaged. More than 11,000 people have been displaced, most of whom have been moved to emergency shelters as a precautionary measure.

"Freddy brought less rain and the damage recorded is almost exclusively wind-related," said Faly Aritiana Fabien of the BNGRC, speaking to the France-Presse agency and quoted by Lusa.

The cyclone hit the east of the country, in the Mananjary region, on Tuesday evening at around 16:30 GMT, and is now heading west. The coastal town of 25,000 people was already largely destroyed last year by Cyclone Batsirai, which killed more than 135 people.

"The weakened system continues its path over the landmass of Madagascar," with average winds reduced to 65 km/h, according to the French meteorological institute, Météo-France.

The cyclone had previously passed over Mauritius and Reunion Island, causing less damage than feared as it passed at altitude.

Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world, is being hit by an extreme drought in a large area of the south, causing a growing number of people to suffer from acute malnutrition and the spread of pockets of hunger.

Around ten storms or cyclones cross the southwest Indian Ocean every year during the cyclone season, which runs from October to April.

Cyclone Freddy is expected to leave Madagascar tonight and hit Mozambique this Friday as a tropical storm, with heavy rains and lower intensity winds, according to forecasts.

This Tuesday, the Mozambican government declared a state of red alert in order to respond more quickly to the floods that are already affecting the country.

According to an update on Tuesday, the number of deaths in the rainy season has risen to 95, a total that already includes 11 deaths in the floods recorded between February 7 and 20 in the south of the country.

These floods, which particularly affected the Maputo region, caused damage to 43,500 people, bringing the total of those affected since the start of the rainy season to 100,000.

Freddy is expected to hit the Mozambican provinces of Sofala and Inhambane on the night of Thursday and it is still uncertain how strongly the storm will hit the country, but it is expected to be a tropical storm of reduced intensity, with very heavy rain for Friday and the following days in the central-southern interior of Mozambique.