At least 44 people have been killed by the unrelenting Cyclone Freddy in Malawi and Mozambique after it struck the continent for a second time on Saturday night, authorities in both countries confirmed on Monday.
The chief executive officer in Malawi’s commercial hub of Blantyre told reporters that at least 39 people have died in the area with several others missing or injured. Mozambican authorities also reported that five people have died due to effects of the cyclone in the country since Saturday.
“We suspect that this figure will rise as we are trying to compile one national report from our southwest, southeast and eastern police offices which cover the affected areas,” Malawi police spokesperson Peter Kalaya told reporters.
Its return on Saturday is the second time the record-breaking cyclone that has wreaked havoc in southern Africa since late February made landfall in mainland Africa. As it traversed across the ocean, it also pummeled the island states of Madagascar and Réunion.
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The cyclone has the highest-ever recorded accumulated cyclone energy, or ACE, which is a measurement of how much energy a cyclone has released over time as it has intensified a record seven times. Freddy recorded more energy over its lifetime than an entire typical U.S. hurricane season.
Although the extent of the destruction it has caused this second time is not yet clear, telecommunications and other essential infrastructure are still cut off in much of the affected Zambezia province, impeding rescue and other humanitarian efforts.
French weather agency Météo-France’s regional tropical cyclone monitoring center in Réunion warned Monday that “the heaviest rains will continue over the next 48 hours” as Freddy barrels on. Mozambique’s central provinces and Malawi have been identified as especially vulnerable to “floods and landslides in mountainous areas” by weather monitors.
Much of the damage experienced in Malawi is in homes built in areas prohibited by law such as in mountainous regions or near rivers where they are battling landslides, unprecedented flooding and rivers bursting their banks. The cyclone has forced the Malawian government to suspend schools in 10 districts in its southern region “as a precautionary measure.”
Freddy is expected weaken and to exit back to sea on Wednesday, according to Météo-France.
Story was adapted from AP.
