After Madagascar, tropical cyclone Freddy caused damage in Mozambique, but especially in Malawi where the human toll is terrible.
In Madagascar, Cyclone Freddy has already caused a lot of damage. When it returned to the island last week, the tropical cyclone claimed 8 lives and more than 40 victims, according to figures from the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC). But during its various passages, more deaths were recorded and the number of victims would reach nearly 000 on the Big Island. In Mozambique, where Freddy also passed again, about ten deaths were recorded and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) counted 300 victims.
Serious results, but less disastrous than in Malawi, where the passage of the tropical cyclone was particularly deadly. The authorities have delivered an impressive provisional toll: at least 190 dead, nearly 600 injured and several dozen missing, according to the National Disaster Management Office. Research is continuing to try to find the missing people, so the toll could climb in the hours to come. The fault is landslides due to the torrential rains that have been beating the country since Sunday, particularly in the districts of Blantyre, Mulanje and Nsanje.
Climate change involved?
Malawi now looks like a country at war, where emergency camps have been set up to accommodate the tens of thousands of victims. On Tuesday, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera returned from Qatar, where he had gone on an official visit. He found, on his return, “a devastated nation”, in his own words. The region of Blantyre, the economic capital, is the most affected. A state of disaster has been declared there.
If the toll is heavy, it should be even more so in the days to come, because Cyclone Freddy continues its journey in this part of the African continent, while it was born almost 40 days ago off the coast. australian. An exceptional duration: in the memory of meteorologists, we had not seen such a phenomenon for several decades. In 1994, Tropical Cyclone John lasted for a month.
What strikes specialists above all is the route taken by Freddy, who already hit southern Africa at the end of February before returning, after recharging in intensity. Gusts were recorded at nearly 200 km / h. The authorities seem helpless: climate change could have created a monster, of which there is no end in sight.