Powerful cyclone hits southeast Africa

Cyclone Freddy, which has wreaked havoc in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi, may well have also smashed the record for the longest lasting tropical cyclone since records began, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.

The low-pressure system which generated the cyclone over the Indian Ocean on 6th February finally dissipated on 15th March. Freddy came ashore twice, slamming into the coast of southeast Africa delivering a harder blow on each landfall.

Gusting up to 300 kilometres per hour and delivering downpours of over 100 millimetres of rain in 24 hours, Freddy caused widespread inundation and deadly landslides. Thousands have been displaced and hundreds injured and with 800 lives already lost, it's feared the tally will rise.

Having visited Blantyre, Malawian government minister Richard Chimwendo Banda lamented the devastation.

Richard Chimwendo Banda: "What we are seeing here is a crisis. So far, we are talking of about 122 people that we have confirmed that they have lost their lives. But quite a number of them are missing and this demands that all of use come in and support. People have been displaced, thousands and thousands in all the 10 districts."

The school in hard-hit Blantyre's been pressed into service as a makeshift evacuation centre. Treacherous conditions and loss of power networks are hampering further assistance from getting to those in need.

A state of disaster has been declared for districts ravaged by the cyclone as Malawi government officials urgently appeal for international aid. The situation in Malawi was already precarious owing to a pre-existing cholera outbreak which the floodwaters now threaten to spread further.

Despite unleashing a force greater than an entire Atlantic hurricane season, official confirmation is pending on cyclone Freddy's title as the longest lasting tropical cyclone on record.

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