A total of 288 people have died as a result of bad weather during the current rainy season in Mozambique, the President of Mozambique said on Friday.
The data correspond to the period from October 1, 2022 to March 21, 2023, Filipe Nyusi said during the opening speech at the meeting of the Central Committee of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), the ruling party, which takes place between Friday and Saturday in Matola.
In addition to the deaths, at least 210,000 families were affected by the weather during the period that includes the passage of Tropical Cyclone Freddy, according to the Mozambican head of state.
Of the total death toll, at least 165 people died as a result of the passage of Cyclone Freddy.
Freddy is already one of the longest-running cyclones in decades, having traveled over 10,000 kilometers since it formed off northern Australia on February 4 and crossed the entire Indian Ocean into southern Africa.
The cyclone first hit the east coast of Madagascar on February 21 and returned to the island on March 5, leaving a trail of 17 dead and 300,000 injured.
In Mozambique, a cyclone that first struck on February 24 and made landfall again two weeks ago.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Freddie may have broken the record for the duration of Hurricane John, which lasted 31 days in 1994, although WMO experts will not confirm this record until the cyclone dissipates.
EYAC // LFS
Portuguese/Late