By Burnett Munthali
Freddy is located 333 km northeast of Beira, Mozambique, and has moved north-northwest ward at 7 km/h (4 knots) over the past 6 hours.
Very Intense Tropical Cyclone Freddy was an exceptionally long-lived storm that tracked across the Indian Ocean for more than five weeks in February and March 2023.
Cyclone Freddy hits Malawi
At least 99 people were confirmed dead on Monday after Cyclone Freddy slammed into southern Malawi, the country’s Commissioner for Disaster Management Affairs, Charles Kalemba, told CNN. However, the number of victims has increased to more than 200 deaths so far. The exact number of people who have been killed and swept by Cyclone Freddy is much higher than what the records show and still remains unknown as the search for survivors continues.
Cyclones have gale force winds with wind gusts in excess of 90 km/h around their centre. In the most severe cyclones, gusts can exceed 280 km/h. These winds can cause extensive property damage and turn airborne debris into potentially lethal missiles.
The most powerful cyclone is the Super Typhoon Haiyan. Super Typhoon has been the strongest landfalling Cyclone ever. The typhoon struck Samar in Philippines on November 7, 2013 with a speed of 310 kmph. Known as Yolanda locally, Haiyan killed 6352 people and 1071 were missing.
Typhoon Tip, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Warling, was the largest and most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded.
Bangladesh is the most affected by cyclones and has been the scene of the greatest tropical cyclone casualties in recent times. The country is quite flat and generally lies near sea level.
The worst storm in history
More people were killed in this single storm than the total of those killed in at least the next two deadliest tropical cyclones that have struck the United States since. The Galveston hurricane of 1900 remains the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
The Pacific Ocean generates the greatest number of tropical storms and cyclones. The most powerful storms, sometimes called super typhoons, occur in the western Pacific. The Indian Ocean is second in the total number of storms, and the Atlantic Ocean ranks third.
There are countries which give cyclone names. The 13 panel countries — Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen — have submitted a list of 13 names each.
Africa gets hit by hurricanes. Climatological statistics show att least 32 tropical cyclones have affected Western Africa and its surrounding islands since records began in 1851. The majority of the storms affect West Africa and Cape Verde islands during the months of August and September which are the active months of a typical Atlantic hurricane season.
