As per reports that after making two landfalls in a month, Cyclone Freddy pummelling central Mozambique and Malawi on March 12, toppling records for the duration and intensity of tropical cyclones in the southern hemisphere.
Here are five details regarding the cyclone:
- According to Charles Kalemba, the Commissioner of the Department of Disaster Management Affairs, at least 99 people were killed by Cyclone Freddy after mudslides washed away houses and sleeping residents in Malawi overnight on Sunday as it ripped through southern Africa for the second time in a month. Additional 134 individuals were injured, and 16 remain missing. Mr. Kalemba added that Blantyre, the country’s commercial capital, recorded 85 fatalities. At least ten individuals were slain and fourteen others were injured in neighbouring Mozambique.
2. It also tore off the roofs of structures and caused widespread inundation near the port of Quelimane before moving inland and triggering landslides in Malawi.
3. The southern region of Malawi has also been declared a “state of disaster” by the Malawian authorities.
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4. In late February, the cyclone had killed over 100 people and maimed dozens.
5. UN World Meteorological Organization predicted that Freddy, which formed off the coast of western Australia in the first week of February, would become the longest-lasting tropical cyclone ever. Beginning on February 21, it swept through Madagascar and the entire southern Indian Ocean before making landfall in Mozambique on February 24.
#CycloneFreddy killed 100+ people in Mozambique and Malawi, as it hit southern Africa for a second time.
It’s likely the longest-lasting tropical cyclone, experts say.
Oceans absorb heat from human-made greenhouse emissions, making tropical storms stronger, scientists say. pic.twitter.com/W2Tn5SraET
— AJ+ (@ajplus) March 14, 2023