The death toll from Tropical Cyclone Freddy exceeded 300 people, and it took Mozambique authorities several days to assess the extent of damage and loss of life.
The storm struck southern Africa over the weekend for the second time after making its first landfall in late February. It is one of the longest-lasting tropical cyclones ever recorded and one of the deadliest to hit Africa in recent years.
At least 53 people have died in the Zambezia province in Mozambiqueofficials said Wednesday night, more than double the previous figure. The number of victims is expected to continue to rise.said the UN agency for children, UNICEF.
malawian has reported 225 dead so far, with hundreds injured and some missing. Storm it killed about 27 people in Madagascar and Mozambique before hitting Mozambique a second time.
Continued rain and power outages have hampered search and rescue efforts this week as the storm caused severe flooding, washed away roads and left bodies and homes buried in mud.
In the southern Malawi village of Mtauchira, six men carried a coffin down a dirt road that had turned into a river, slipping in the mud as the rain continued to fall.
Others stood in freshly dug graves that had filled up like ponds, scooping up the water with buckets so they could lower the coffins. Nearby, relatives of the dead wept and hugged each other, some holding umbrellas while others were drenched.
Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera declared 14 days of national mourning and called for international support for relief efforts. Said more than 80,000 people were displaced.
As power began to return in Malawi on Thursday, many places affected by the storm had not had running water for a week, including in the second largest city, Blantyre.
In Malawi, where a cholera outbreak was already underway when Cyclone Freddy hit the country, deaths from the disease and other waterborne diseases are also expected to rise.
“We have been without running water for the last four days and the water will be contaminated,” said Andrew Mavala, executive director of the Malawi Network for Older Persons. “This is a huge concern.”
Hundreds of people have been moved to camps, but food and drinking water remain in short supply, Mavala said, with dozens of older people uncertain how they will recover.
“There is a feeling that they have lived their lives and we must prioritize the young people. But they must be helped and treated with dignity,” she said.
Scientists say human-caused climate change has worsened cyclone activity, making them more intense and frequent. The recently ended La Niña affecting weather around the world has also increased cyclone activity in the region in recent years.
Cyclone Freddy has caused destruction in southern Africa since late February, when it hit Mozambique, as well as the islands of Madagascar and Réunion.
Freddy first developed near Australia in early February and traveled across the entire southern Indian Ocean before bouncing off the Mozambique Channel. The UN weather agency has convened a panel of experts to determine whether it has broken the record for the longest cyclone in recorded history, which was set by the 31-day Hurricane John in 1994.
(With information from Reuters and AP)
Keep reading:
Deaths, floods and landslides: the damage caused by Cyclone Freddy
Cyclone Freddy caused at least 66 deaths and could be the longest storm in history: it began in February
State of catastrophe due to Cyclone Freddy: it has already caused more than 190 deaths and is on its way to being the longest in history
Source-www.infobae.com