Malawi: Cyclone Freddy death toll rises to 190

CNN
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At least 190 people have died after a tropical Cyclone Freddy It hit southern Malawi, the country’s Department of Disaster Management said on Tuesday.

At least 584 people were injured, 37 people are missing.

Malawi’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change said on Tuesday that the cyclone is “weakening but will continue to produce wind-driven heavy rainfall in most parts of southern Malawi.”

“The threat of severe flooding and destructive winds remains very high,” the statement said.

Charles Kalemba, agency commissioner for the Department of Disaster Management, told CNN Tuesday that the situation has worsened in southern Malawi.

“Today is worse. A number of places are flooded, a number of roads and bridges have been cut. Visibility is almost zero. Electricity is out, as well as a problem with the network. The situation is getting more and more dire,” Kalemba said, adding that the rescue operations were also affected by bad weather .

“It’s hard. We need to use the equipment (for rescue work), but the cars cannot go to the places where they were supposed to excavate because of the rains,” Kalemba added.

Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services Malawi warned On Monday, it said “the threat of damaging winds and severe flooding remains very high.”

Kalemba added that the weather is expected to improve from Wednesday. “Perhaps the cyclone will pass by tomorrow. We hope to see an improvement from tomorrow, but today is worse. Heavy rains and lots of water.”

In Mozambique, at least 10 people were killed and 13 were injured in the province of Zambezia, according to Mozambique’s state radio station, citing the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management.

A deadly cyclone broke records for the longest storm of its kind after making landfall in Mozambique. a second timemore than two weeks after the first.

More than 22,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to the tropical storm, according to Radio Mozambique.

“It is likely that this number will grow,” Guy Taylor, head of advocacy, communications and partnerships for UNICEF in Mozambique, told CNN on Tuesday.

“The size or strength of the hurricane was much larger than last time…the damage in terms of damage and impact on people’s lives was more substantial,” he said.