At least four people have died as Tropical Cyclone Freddie hit Madagascar tonight, according to the country’s National Disaster Risk Management Authority (BNGRC).
Bad weather, accompanied by strong winds on the east coast, has killed “4 people” on a large island in the Indian Ocean, with a total of 16,660 affected, according to the latest BNGRC report.
About 3,300 houses were flooded and nearly as many were damaged. More than 11,000 people were displaced, most of whom were moved to shelters as a precaution.
“Freddie brought less rain and the reported damage is almost exclusively wind-related,” Fali Aritiana Fabienne of BNGRC said in statements to Agence France-Presse.
The cyclone made landfall in the east of the country, in the Mananjara region, on Tuesday evening around 16:30 GMT and is currently moving westward. The coastal city of 25,000 was already largely destroyed last year by Cyclone Batsirai, which killed more than 135 people.
According to the French meteorological institute Météo-France, “a weakened system continues its path over the land of Madagascar”, with the average wind speed reduced to 65 km / h.
The cyclone had previously passed off Mauritius and Reunion Island, causing less damage than feared as it passed at altitude.
Madagascar, one of the world’s poorest countries, is suffering from a severe drought over a large area in the south, leaving more people suffering from acute malnutrition and growing pockets of hunger.
About ten storms or cyclones cross the southwestern Indian Ocean each year during the cyclone season, which runs from October to April.
Cyclone Freddy is expected to leave Madagascar tonight and hit Mozambique this Friday as a tropical storm with heavy rain and light winds, according to forecasts.
The Mozambican government on Tuesday declared a state of high alert to respond more quickly to the floods that have already affected the country.
The death toll during the rainy season rose to 95, already accounting for 11 deaths from floods recorded from February 7 to 20 in the south of the country, according to the balance sheet updated on Tuesday.
These floods, which particularly affected the Maputo region, affected 43,500 people, bringing the total number of people affected since the start of the rainy season to 100,000.
Freddie is expected to hit the Mozambican provinces of Sofala and Inhambane overnight from Thursday to Friday, and it is still unclear how strong the storm will hit the country, but it is expected to decrease in intensity to a tropical storm with heavy rain. on Friday and beyond in the south-central interior of Mozambique.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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