By Jeremy Clarke

NAIROBI, April 13 (Reuters) - At least 126,000 people in Madagascar have been severely affected by Cyclone Indlala during the Indian Ocean island's worst cyclone season on record, the Red Cross said on Friday, as it more than doubled its appeal.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it had raised an emergency appeal to $1.6 million, from $637,000, after five cyclones ripped through the huge vanilla and rice-growing island.

Scores of people were killed last month by cyclone Indlala, which destroyed 13,000 houses and ruined 40,000 hectares of crops on an island already struggling to deal with a drought affecting 528,000 people, the federation said.

"Tens of thousands have lost absolutely everything. When we first handed out food aid they had nothing left to carry it in. They turned up and used their shirts and skirts to carry it," said Red Cross/Red Crescent spokesman Omar Valdimarsson.

"Any delay in receiving this revised amount and people will suffer," he said, citing malnutrition and greater susceptiblity to waterborne diseases.

The money would help provide tarpaulins, blankets, pick axes and hoes to 60,000 people on the world's fourth largest island, south-east of Africa. Another cyclone this month killed three people.

Madagascar said in March it had received only $1 million from its $242 million appeal to help cope with multiple disasters this year.

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