Cyclone Freddy - Malawi and Mozambique

[trottigy]

At least 270 people have died and tens of thousands were displaced in Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar amid Cyclone Freddy's heavy rains and winds this month. The storm dissipated Wednesday after making landfall three times, once in Madagascar and twice in Mozambique. Malawi's financial hub, Blantyre, saw the majority of fatalities. See photos of the destruction here.

 

Freddy developed off the northern coast of Australia in early February before traveling over 4,000 miles across the southern Indian Ocean—only the fourth storm ever to do so—to southern Africa (see map). The storm became both the longest-lasting as well as the most energetic cyclone ever recorded, continuing for 37 days with a total Accumulated Cyclone Energy of 86, roughly equivalent to an entire Atlantic hurricane season. Read more records the storm broke here. 

 

Separately, a migrant ship likely headed to nearby Mayotte island capsized off the northwest coast of Madagascar, killing at least 34 Sunday.

 

Edited March 16, 2023 by trottigy

[daydream]

10 hours ago, trottigy said:

See photos of the destruction here.

 

https://gulfnews.com/photos/news/photos-cyclone-freddy-to-ease-after-battering-malawi-mozambique-1.1678882819818?slide=23

 

So sad for the brothers suffering the 'natural' disastrous with such frequency. 

 

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This will be the first cyclone, and the second tropical weather system, to hit Madagascar in the 2022-2023 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season. Tropical Storm Cheneso made landfall on 19 January 2023 and affected 90,870 people, including 33 people who died in 18 regions. Over 3.3 million people in Madagascar could be impacted by wind speeds of 120km/hr during cyclone Freddy’s passage 

 

 

Spoiler

 

[Ross Au]

What a great wt study this weekend to help us through these trials. 

[trottigy]

Yes, absolutely terrible and very little is said on Western news about it. I did see that things aren't getting better either:

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/malawi-receive-international-aid-rescue-efforts-amid-flooding-2023-03-17/

 

Quote

 In Malawi, where floods swept away entire villages this month after a storm tore through its southern districts, police officers and soldiers on Friday dug for victims buried under the mud and rocks as the death toll rose sharply.

 

The storm has pounded the southern African country as tropical Cyclone Freddy swept through the region killing more than 500 people in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar since it first made landfall in Africa in late February and circled back for a second time over the weekend.

 

Quote

"(Severe flooding) has inundated farmlands and destroyed produce – just as farmers were about to harvest the only crop of the year - compounding an already difficult year in which 3.8 million people need food assistance," the WFP said in a statement.

 

It added that the country has been affected by high maize prices and the worst cholera epidemic in decades.

 

Edited March 18, 2023 by trottigy