Monitoring Desk
LILONGWE: At least 70 people have died in Malawi and Mozambique as Cyclone Freddy hit the two countries with torrential rains and strong winds, authorities said on Monday.
Police in Malawi said 11 people died in areas surrounding the southern city of Blantyre, where heavy rains triggered flooding.
More than 60 bodies were found during the day in southern Malawi, where heavy downpours triggered flooding, according to the Red Cross.
“Sixty-six people have died in Malawi, 93 injured, and 16 people are missing due to Tropical Cyclone Freddy,” tweeted the humanitarian organization helping with search and rescue operations.
Four more people died in Mozambique, local authorities said, as an assessment of the damages was underway after the record-breaking storm made its second landfall in the country on Saturday.
Freddy has broken all records for the duration and strength of tropical storms in the southern hemisphere. It struck central Mozambique as a cyclone on Sunday before moving inland and hitting Malawi overnight with torrential rains and strong winds.
Rescue operation in cyclone hit areas
Malawi police spokesman Peter Kalaya said that rescue teams were looking for people in Chilobwe and Ndirande, two of the worst affected townships in Blantyre.
“Some missing persons are feared buried in rubble, and our team is working with other cooperating national agencies,” the spokesman said.
According to a resident and local media, Hundreds of people have been displaced as cyclone Freddy hit Mozambique for a second time in two weeks, killing at least one person and prompting a lockdown in one port town.
An assessment of the damage was underway, with the Mozambique National Institute for Disaster Management saying the fallout from the storm’s second landfall in the state was worse than expected.
“The number of affected people was more than the forecast,” the authority head Luisa Meque said, adding the storm also struck areas that had been “deemed safe.”
Cyclone Freddy, a major cyclone on track to become the longest-lasting on record, prevailed through southern Africa at the weekend for the second time within just a few weeks, making a comeback after a first storm in late February.
