KYIV. March 17. UNN. Cyclone Freddy, which dissipated this week after record-breaking fury, has killed more than 460 people in southern Africa and affected more than half a million people in Malawi, the United Nations said on Friday.
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In six days, the storm dumped six months’ worth of rain on southern Malawi, leaving a trail of destruction and severely damaged infrastructure, as well as flooding farmland.
“More than 500,000 people have been affected,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report, adding that more than 183,100 people had been displaced.
According to the latest figures released late on Friday, about 360 people have died in Malawi in a country of nearly 20 million people. The government currently estimates the number of displaced persons at more than 183,000.
More than 300 emergency shelters have been set up for survivors, while the army and police continue to search for bodies.
According to the World Health Organization, the storm occurred as Malawi was gripped by a deadly cholera outbreak.
“There is a risk that the ongoing cholera outbreak could worsen, as children will be the most vulnerable to this crisis,” a UNICEF spokeswoman told AFP.
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The cyclone made its first landfall in southern Africa in late February, hitting Madagascar and Mozambique, leaving Malawi unscathed.
The storm then moved back over the Indian Ocean, where it drew more energy from warmer waters before reversing course and making a second landfall.
In total, the hurricane killed 463 people in three southern African countries: 360 people died in Malawi, 86 people in Mozambique and 17 people in Madagascar.