The death toll in Malawi from Cyclone Freddy nearly doubled on Tuesday, rising to 190 after the record‑breaking storm triggered floods and landslips in its second strike on Africa within three weeks. The cyclone, which formed off Australia in early February, crossed the Indian Ocean and made landfall in southeastern Africa in late February before returning at the weekend for a second, more powerful impact. Malawi’s Department of Disaster Management Affairs reported that the death count had increased from 99 to 190, with 584 injured and 37 people reported missing. Relief workers expect the figures to rise further.
“The situation is very dire,” said Guilherme Botelho, emergency project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF). “There are many casualties—wounded, missing, or dead—and the numbers will only increase in the coming days.” Many of the fatalities resulted from mudslides that swept away homes in the commercial capital, Blantyre. Across the country, nearly 59,000 people have been affected and more than 19,000 displaced, many now sheltering in schools and churches.
In Chilobwe, a township outside Blantyre, survivors surveyed flattened houses as rain continued to fall, fearing that people remained trapped beneath the muddy rubble of earthen bricks. John Witman, in his 80s, stood in front of the ruins of his son‑in‑law’s home, now reduced to rocks and gushing water. “I wish that we could find him and find closure. We feel helpless because no one is here to help us,” he said.
In nearby Chimwankhunda, Steve Panganani Matera, wearing a high‑visibility green jacket, pointed to a mound of mud. “There were plenty of houses, but they are all gone. There are plenty of bodies down there in the mud.” Fourteen‑year‑old Mayeso Chinthenga recounted how his family’s house was swept away by the cascading mud. “We were out looking for firewood when we saw rocks rolling down the mountain, so we ran for safety. Some of our neighbours died on the spot,” he told a nearby school.
Cyclone Freddy reached landlocked Malawi early Monday morning after sweeping through Mozambique at the weekend. Last week the storm unofficially broke the World Meteorological Organization’s benchmark for the longest‑lasting tropical cyclone, surpassing the 31‑day record set in 1994 by Cyclone John. Researchers will now study whether Freddy holds the new title, a process that may take months.
Freddy became a named storm on 6 February, made landfall in Madagascar on 21 February, crossed the island, and reached Mozambique on 24 February, claiming nearly two dozen lives in both countries and affecting almost 400,000 people. It then returned to the Indian Ocean, gathered new energy over warm waters, and came back much stronger at the weekend, with wind gusts up to 200 km/h (125 mph), according to Emmanuel Cloppet of Meteo‑France. Meteorologists note that cyclones traversing the entire Indian Ocean are rare—the last occurred in 2000—and Freddy’s loopback was even more exceptional. “It’s a very rare thing that these cyclones feed themselves over and over again,” said climate expert Coleen Vogel of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.
The cyclone has added to Malawi’s existing crises, including the deadliest cholera outbreak in its history, which has killed over 1,600 people since last year. Fears of a cholera resurgence—exacerbated by vaccine shortages—have grown after the outbreak began in the aftermath of another tropical storm last year. “It’s still early to tell if anything is going to happen, but we need to be vigilant to see if more cases will come,” said MSF’s Botelho.
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