In southern Africa, more than 270 people have already died in recent weeks due to tropical cyclone Freddy. In Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar, rescuers race against time to find survivors. Freddy is one of the deadliest, most powerful and longest lasting tropical storms ever to hit the African continent.
The hurricane swept across southern Africa for the second time in a month this weekend. Freddy causes heavy rainfall, which complicates the rescue work. Severe flooding, landslides and mudslides have swept away homes and destroyed bridges and roads.
The disaster service in Malawi reports at least 225 dead, more than 700 injured and 41 missing on Wednesday. Army, police, Red Cross and other emergency services are engaged in rescue operations in Blantyre, Malawi’s most important economic city, which is one of the hardest hit areas.
The power supply in Malawi has been disrupted and the national energy company has been forced to close large hydroelectric power plants. A dozen healthcare facilities have also been destroyed, according to the Ministry of Health.
Survivors in trees
More than 88,300 residents in Malawi, one of the poorest in the world, are now homeless. Schools and churches are set up as in emergency shelters. Rescue workers found survivors in trees and on rooftops.
“Floods are the biggest problem and the devastation is huge,” Felix Washon, spokesman for the Red Cross in Malawi, told AFP news agency. “With destroyed bridges and high water levels, it is a challenge to reach those who are trapped.”
President Lazarus Chakwera, who returned from a UN conference in Qatar on Tuesday, speaks of a “devastated nation”. Pope Francis said during his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square that he prayed “for the dead, the injured and the displaced” in Malawi affected by a “calamity.”
Island
At least 21 people have died in Mozambique. “As we take stock, our priority now is to search and rescue people in the most devastated areas. We have already rescued thousands, but thousands are still unreachable,” said spokesman Paulo Tomas of the Mozambican disaster service.
The rain is ravaging the port city of Quelimane and surrounding areas, where it has been raining continuously since the weekend. Many houses have been destroyed, roofs have been ripped off and roads have been cut off. “The city is almost an island,” says Thomas Bonnet of the local aid organization Friends in Global Health.
Freddy raced 5,000 miles from east to west across the Indian Ocean. The tropical storm has now been raging for more than 35 days. According to meteorologists, Freddy is on track to become the longest cyclone in recorded history. Tropical storms and cyclones occur several times a year in the southwest Indian Ocean during the hurricane season, which lasts from November to April.
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