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Not less than 11 individuals have died and 16 are lacking round Malawi’s second-largest metropolis Blantyre after tropical storm Freddy introduced torrential rains that triggered floods and landslides.
Freddy, one of many strongest storms ever recorded within the southern hemisphere, is believed to even be the longest-lasting tropical cyclone, with the earlier file held by a 31-day hurricane in 1994, in accordance with the World Meteorological Group.
It pummelled Mozambique for the second time in a month as a cyclone on the weekend earlier than weakening because it moved inland in direction of Malawi.
The complete extent of the injury and lack of life in Mozambique is just not but clear, as the ability provide and phone indicators had been lower off within the affected space.
Malawi police spokesperson Peter Kalaya instructed Reuters that the variety of individuals killed and lacking due to Freddy was prone to develop because it had affected 10 districts and to date numbers had been solely in for Blantyre.
He stated rescue groups had been on the lookout for individuals in Chilobwe and Ndirande, two of the worst-affected townships in Blantyre, the place it was nonetheless raining on Monday and most residents had been with out energy.
“Some lacking individuals are feared buried in rubble and our workforce is working with different co-operating nationwide companies,” Kalaya stated.
Mozambique’s public broadcaster TVM reported that one particular person was killed close to the port of Quelimane when their home collapsed, bringing the quantity killed to a minimum of 28 in Mozambique and Madagascar since Freddy first made landfall final month.
Mozambique has obtained greater than a 12 months’s value of rainfall up to now 4 weeks, and there was concern that Freddy may trigger rivers to burst in his path.
Scientists say local weather change is making tropical storms stronger, as oceans soak up a lot of the warmth from greenhouse gasoline emissions and when heat sea water evaporates warmth power is transferred to the ambiance.
– Reuters
