The damage caused by Cyclone Freddy in Malawi Photo Twitter @MalawiRedCross
Mozambique – After making landfall for a second time in a month, Cyclone Freddy battered Mozambique and Malawi leaving many without homes. More than 100 people have died. The cyclone has now broken records for being the strongest and longest lasting cyclone in the southern hemisphere.
More than 171 000 people were affected after Freddy made its first landfall last month in Mozambique killing 27 people. More than half a million people are at risk of getting impacted in the second landfall, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique
According to UNICEF, Freddy made landfall with sustained winds of nearly 150 km/h. At such speeds, it devastated the port town of Quelimane and moved inwards towards the southern tip of Malawi. Preliminary reports indicate that 22 000 people have been displaced, said Naemi Heita, Head of Country Cluster Delegation, Mozambique and Angola at The International Federation of the Red Cross.
“To date we have about 22 000 people that are displaced. That will give you roughly 4 000 families. Mozambique has reported 10 deaths and 14 injuries. It is quite a devastation. These are preliminary figures. The assessments are still ongoing. There are some communities that are cut off. We won’t be knowing the full damage of Freddy until we are able to reach all the affected communities.”
Mozambique has seen more than a year’s worth of rainfall in the past four weeks. This has caused concerns that rivers could burst the banks and cause wide-spread flooding further adding to the damage.
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Cyclone Freddy in Malawi
After ripping through Mozambique, Freddy moved inland towards Malawi where it unleashed torrential rains that caused landslides. Malawi was the worst hit with the rains causing massive mudslides which caused at least 99 deaths with another 134 people injured and 16 are reported missing. Malawi’s commercial capital Blantyre recorded 85 deaths.
Freddy comes at the worst time for Malawi which is battling one of the deadliest outbreaks in its history. Heita and others are worried the situation could now get worse.
“[Malawi] has been affected by an outbreak of cholera. We are worried and concerned that the recent flooding will worsen the situation. The government and other humanitarian organisations are trying to scale up the response for cholera and make sure we contain it as quickly as possible. Make sure we put measures in place with regards to the new provinces impacted by cyclones.”
Freddy first developed on February 6 off the northwest Australian coast before making the thousand of miles trip to Africa. The storm hit the eastern coast of Madagascar on February 21 before making landfall at Mozambique for the first time. It then looped back out towards the Mozambique channel, gained energy from the warm waters and headed to the southwestern coast of Madagascar.
To hear from Naemi Heita on what is needed for the devastated countries, listen to the podcast here:
