According to authorities in Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar, the number of fatalities caused by the unusually long-lasting Tropical Storm Freddy in southeast Africa has increased to 522.
The number of fatalities increased to 438 on Saturday, according to the disaster management officials in Malawi, the country that was most severely affected by the cyclone. Lazarus Chakwera, the president of Malawi, announced a 14-day period of national mourning on Thursday.
There are hundreds of evacuation centers set up across the nation for survivors, with 345,000 people impacted by the severe rains, floods, and landslides, and tens of thousands of people left homeless in Malawi.
Southeast Africa was left devastated by the cyclone. Madagascar, an island nation, as well as neighboring Mozambique have been impacted.
According to President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique, 67 people at least died there, while 50,000 more were displaced.
The number of fatalities in both countries is anticipated to increase. In Madagascar, an island nation, at least 17 people died.
After making a second landfall in Mozambique and then Malawi over the weekend and wreaking havoc in a number of areas, including Malawi’s financial center, Blantyre, Cyclone Freddy dissipated over land late Wednesday.
Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller reported from the island of Makanga in Malawi and said that while rescue efforts were ongoing, it had taken a while for people to be moved from flooded islands to the mainland.
“The police have so far spoken to roughly 1,300 people, but hundreds more are still waiting. They were forced to look for safety among trees. They don’t have any food, and their homes have been destroyed, added Miller.
It will undoubtedly take a few more days before more progress is made in terms of saving individuals in locations like these, which have been extremely challenging to reach up until this point, she continued.
On February 21, Freddy first touched down on Madagascar. The storm then continued on to Mozambique before returning over the Indian Ocean. It made its second trip to Mozambique on March 11 and then continued on to Malawi.
Paul Turnbull, the head of the World Food Program in Malawi, noted that many locations were inaccessible, limiting the mobility of assessment and humanitarian teams as well as life-saving supplies. “After assessments are complete, the entire scope of the devastation will become apparent.”
Before the hurricane hit, there was a cholera outbreak in both countries, and there are worries that the floods would worsen the spread of water-borne illnesses. Early in the year, floods and Freddy’s initial battering both affected Mozambique.
According to scientists, cyclone activity has gotten worse due to human-caused climate change, becoming wetter, more intense, and more frequent.
Since it devastated Mozambique, Madagascar, and Réunion in late February, Cyclone Freddy has wreaked havoc throughout southern Africa. Then, after regaining strength across the Mozambique Channel, it looped back onto shore.
An expert team has been assembled by the International Meteorological Organization to examine if Cyclone Freddy has surpassed the record for the longest cyclone in recorded history.
Until March or April, the cyclone season in Southern Africa can bring heavy rain and storms.
