Cyclone Freddy, which killed more than 400 people in southern Africa, affected more than half a million people in Malawi, one of the world’s poorest countries now facing the risk of a humanitarian crisis, the United Nations warned Friday. United.
Freddy “reduced into an area of low pressure and completely dissipated on March 15,” the local UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a situation update.
In six days, six months’ worth of rain fell in southern Malawi, triggering flooding and mudslides.
“More than 500,000 people have been affected since March 12,” according to Ocha. More than 183,000 people out of a population of nearly 20 million are homeless.
More than 300 dead
Some 300 emergency shelters have been opened, but the destruction still limits access for humanitarian teams and makes aid more difficult, the World Food Program (WFP) said in a statement.
Cyclone Freddy, with exceptional longevity, caused 326 deaths in Malawi. It also killed 86 people in Mozambique, according to a latest report on Friday, and 17 in Madagascar.
Formed in early February off Australia, the cyclone, which made an unprecedented journey of more than 8,000 km from east to west in the Indian Ocean, is on track to be ranked the longest on record.
Authorities call for international help
It hit hardest in Malawi, where more than 280,000 children need urgent humanitarian aid, UNICEF spokeswoman Fungma Fudong told AFP.
“There is a risk that the current cholera epidemic will worsen, with children being the most vulnerable to this crisis,” he added.
A state of disaster has been declared in the country, the police and the army have been deployed. President Lazarus Chakwera called for international help.
“The country will need significant support,” said WFP Malawi director Paul Turnbull, vowing to mobilize as quickly as possible.
South Africa is lending a hand to the rescue teams, the UK must also send reinforcements. Neighboring Zambia has sent food and tents, according to a statement from the defense minister.
Source: BFM TV
