Tropical Cyclone Freddy killed two children and two women as it returned to sweep through Madagascar, where it had already claimed seven lives in late February, authorities said on Monday (March 6). A 1-year-old child died when a house collapsed as strong winds and heavy rainfall battered the southwest of the island. Another child, aged 2, was killed in unspecified circumstances, along with two women aged 50 and 53. This report brings to eleven the number of people killed by the cyclone since it hit the island, the first time in February, before touching the Mozambican coasts. He is also expected to return to sweep Mozambique this week.
"This loop trajectory is very rare," said Rivo Randrianarison, head of forecasts at Météo Madagascar. You have to go back to 1998 to find a similar phenomenon, observed at the time with a tropical storm, he added. About ten storms or cyclones cross the southwest Indian Ocean each year during the hurricane season, which runs from November to April. "The main risks for today are rainfall and therefore floods, river floods and landslides throughout the western, southwestern and extreme southern part of the island," explained Mr. Randrianarison.
More than 15,000 people have been affected and nearly 11,000 displaced by Freddy's return, according to the National Office of Risk Management. More than 600 homes were destroyed, he added. The cyclone was located Monday afternoon about 130 km southwest of the coastal town of Toliara, with winds of up to 125 km / h. It must strengthen by heading towards Mozambique, which it must reach on Friday.
