Cyclone Freddy: death toll in Malawi & Mozambique rises above 270

The overall death toll from record-breaking tropical Cyclone Freddy has risen to over 270 in Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar. Freddy hit the coast of Southern Africa for a second time in a month over the weekend and causing heavy rain, hampering relief efforts, making it one of the deadliest storms to hit the continent in the last two decades. Malawi’s Disaster Management department said, in a statement that the death toll from the cyclone's second hit stood at 225 with 707 people injured and 41 missing. Many of the dead were killed by mudslides in hilly Blantyre, the country's second-biggest city. Torrential rain swept away thousands of homes and uprooted trees. The scale of the damage and loss of life is still unknown as search and rescue operations continue. Malawi’s government said, almost 60,000 people have been affected, of which about 19,000 were displaced from their homes. Malawi’s army, police, the local Red Cross and other aid agencies were conducting search and rescue operations, with commercial hub Blantyre one of the areas hardest-hit. Power supplies in Malawi have been severely disrupted by the storm after the national electricity generation company had to shut down major hydroelectric power stations.
The official death toll in neighboring Mozambique stood at 21.Meteorologists said, the month-long storm has broken at least one record and could break two more, as climate change causes warmer oceans, and heat energy from the water’s surface is fuelling stronger storms. Freddy developed off the coast of Australia, crossed the entire south Indian Ocean, and traveled more than 8,000 km to make landfall in Madagascar and Mozambique in late February. It then looped back and hit the coast of Mozambique again two weeks later before moving inland to Malawi. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed distress at the devastation due to Cyclone Freddy in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar. In a message, Modi gave his condolences to the Presidents of the three countries, the bereaved families and those affected by the cyclone. He said India stands with them in this tough time.