Cyclone Freddy kills over 100 in Malawi and Mozambique

Cyclone Freddy, packing powerful winds and torrential rain, killed more than 100 people in Malawi and Mozambique on its return to southern Africa’s mainland, authorities said. Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera declared a state of disaster in several southern districts including the commercial hub Blantyre. The government was already responding to the disaster while appealing for local and international relief aid for the affected families, the presidency said in a statement. Nearly 100 people have died in Malawi’s southern districts, the country’s disaster agency said on Monday. “The death toll, including in other districts that have been hit in the southern region, has risen to 99 … but we expect the number to rise,” Charles Kalemba, commissioner at the Department of Disaster Management Affairs, told a press conference. Four more died in neighbouring Mozambique, local authorities said. An assessment of the damage was still under way, with the Mozambique National Institute for Disaster Management (INGD) saying the fallout from the storm’s second landfall in the country was worse than expected. “The number of affected people was above the forecast,” INGD head Luisa Meque said, adding the storm struck also areas that had been “deemed safe”. Freddy, a major cyclone on track to become the longest-lasting on record, barrelled through southern Africa at the weekend for the second time within a few weeks, making a comeback after a first hit in late February. New Zealand declares national emergency as storm triggers floods, landslides In Malawi, Blantyre city was badly impacted, with regional police spokeswoman Beatrice Mikuwa saying 36 bodies were recovered in the township of Chilobwe “which has been hit the most”, with dozens of houses washed away. “Rescue efforts are still under way but they are being hampered by the incessant rains,” Mikuwa said. Richard Duwa, 38, said his sister-in-law’s family was swept away by flash floods. “We got a call from the neighbours at around 5am to say that ‘your relations have been washed away by the rains’,” said Duwa, a government clerk. “Unfortunately, we have just recovered one body, a small boy, but the remaining four are not to be seen.” Malawi’s government ordered schools in 10 southern districts to remain closed until Wednesday, with rains and winds expected to continue to batter the nation’s south. National carrier Malawi Airlines said all flights to Blantyre have been cancelled until further notice after an inbound plane ran into the bad weather mid-flight and was forced back to the capital Lilongwe. Freddy reached the landlocked country early Monday morning after sweeping through Mozambique at the weekend. In Mozambique, at least three people died in Namacura, a town in the central Zambezia province, according to district head Moura Xavier. One more was reported dead at the weekend, after a house collapsed in the nearby district of Zalala. Malaysia police find fifth body as floods sweep Johor state, more rain forecast The death toll was expected to increase, as authorities worked to reach all affected areas. “We are prioritising rescuing people and removing the lifeless bodies. We don’t have numbers,” said Andre Tazingua, a fire service commander in Zambezia. “The most important thing is the assistance we are providing and we will continue to work.” Guy Taylor, a spokesman for the UN children’s agency Unicef, said rains had abated on Monday but the hard-hit Mozambique coastal city of Quelimane remained without access to clean running water. Flooding affected parts of the city, he said. “There’s a lot of damage,” Taylor said by phone. “In the more rural areas, many houses are completely destroyed”. According to the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Freddy, which formed off northwestern Australia in the first week in February, was set to become the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record. It crossed the entire southern Indian Ocean and blasted Madagascar from February 21 before reaching Mozambique on February 24. Following what meteorologists describe as a “rare” loop trajectory, Freddy then headed back towards Madagascar before moving once more towards Mozambique. Upon its return it carried even stronger winds and rains, Taylor said. In total, Freddy has so far killed at least 97 people – 66 in Malawi, 14 in Mozambique and 17 in Madagascar. The last cyclones to cross the entire southern Indian Ocean were Tropical Cyclones Leon-Eline and Hudah in 2000.