Africa’s cyclone death toll tops 200

BLANTYRE: The death toll from Cyclone Freddy in Malawi and Mozambique has passed 200 after the recordbreaking storm triggered floods and landslips in its second strike on Africa in less than three weeks.

Rescue workers warned that more victims were likely as they scoured destroyed neighbourhoods for survivors, even as hopes dwindled.

The fierce storm delivered its second punch to southeastern Africa starting at the weekend, its second landfall since late February after brewing off Australia and traversing the Indian Ocean.

Malawi’s government said at least 190 people were killed, with 584 injured and 37 missing, while authorities in neighbouring Mozambique reported 20 deaths and 24 injured.

“The situation is very dire,” said Guilherme Botelho, emergency project co-ordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Malawi.

“There are many casualties, either wounded, missing or dead, and the numbers will only increase in the coming days,” he said.

Many people perished in mudslides that washed away homes in the country’s commercial capital, Blantyre.

Across the country, nearly 59,000 people have been affected and more than 19,000 displaced, with many sheltering in schools and churches.

Freddy was still causing localised rains and winds in southern Malawi on Tuesday, local time, but conditions were expected to ease from Wednesday evening, according to the country’s meteorological service.

In Chilobwe, a township outside Blantyre, stunned survivors surveyed flattened houses and other structures as rain continued to fall.

John Witman, in his 80s, dressed in a raincoat and woollen hat with his 10 family members in tow, stood in front of what had been his son-in-law’s home. It was now just rocks and gushing water, the house having been swept away.

“I wish we could find him, and find closure,” he said.

The storm has broken the World Meteorological Organisation’s benchmark as the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record, set in 1994 for a 31-day storm named John.