Death toll climbs as Cyclone Freddy slams Malawi, Mozambique

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — An unrelenting Cyclone Freddy that is currently battering southern Africa has killed at least 56 people in Malawi and Mozambique since it struck the continent for a second time on Saturday night, authorities in both countries have confirmed.

Local police said 51 people in Malawi, including 36 in Chilobwe in the financial hub of Blantyre in the centre of the country have died, with several others missing or injured. Authorities in Mozambique reported that five people were killed in the country since Saturday.

The deaths in Malawi include five members of a single family who died in Blantyre's Ndirande township after Freddy's destructive winds and heavy rains demolished their house, according to a police report. A three-year-old child who was “trapped in the debris” is also among the victims, with her parents among those reported missing, authorities also said.

“We suspect that this figure will rise as we are trying to compile one national report from our southwest, southeast and eastern police offices which cover the affected areas,” Malawi police spokesperson Peter Kalaya told the AP.

The cyclone lashed over Mozambique and Malawi over the weekend and into Monday. It's the second time the record-breaking cyclone — which has been causing destruction in southern Africa since late February — made landfall in mainland Africa. It also pummelled the island states of Madagascar and Réunion as it traversed across the ocean.

The cyclone has intensified a record seven times and has the highest-ever recorded accumulated cyclone energy, or ACE, which is a measurement of how much energy a cyclone has released over time. Freddy recorded more energy over its lifetime than an entire typical US hurricane season.

Freddy first developed near Australia in early February and travelled across the entire southern Indian Ocean. It's set to be the longest-ever recorded tropical cyclone. The UN's weather agency has convened an expert panel to determine whether it has broken the record set by Hurricane John in 1994 of 31 days.

Freddy is expected weaken and to exit back to sea on Wednesday, according to Météo-France.

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