Mozambique: Cyclone Freddy is back
Formed off the coast of Australia, the violent and long-lasting cyclone Freddy has already crossed the entire southern Indian Ocean, before hitting Madagascar and Mozambique twice (illustration image).
© AFP - LAURA MOROSOLI
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Cyclone Freddy is back in Mozambique.
It hit the country on the night of Saturday March 11 to Sunday March 12, leaving at least one dead and dozens displaced.
For the moment, the damage is less important than during its first visit at the end of February when ten people were killed.
Nevertheless, the NGOs on the spot are worried.
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Although downgraded to a tropical storm, Freddy has already caused severe destruction and damaged many homes in Mozambique.
Unicef in particular fears “
a large-scale disaster
” as heavy rains continue to fall.
More than 100,000 inhabitants are deprived of electricity, water and telephone network and according to Unicef, and this is only the beginning of the rains.
Winds of 150 km/h
The most affected region is the port city of Quelimane, in the province of Zambézia, several hundred kilometers from the capital Maputo.
It is here in the center of the country where the cyclone made landfall on Saturday accompanied by violent winds of nearly 150 kilometers per hour.
An elderly person was killed in the collapse of his house, and more than 70 people had to be evacuated.
A cyclone that lasts
Formed off the coast of Australia, Freddy has already crossed the entire southern Indian Ocean, before hitting Madagascar and Mozambique twice.
It is currently heading for the southern tip of neighboring Malawi, where authorities expect flooding.
Freddy broke the record for the longest duration of a tropical cyclone on record.
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To read also
:
Madagascar: instructive visit of the European Commissioner for Crisis Management after Freddy
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