In Madagascar, the death toll from tropical cyclone Freddy has increased to four, as the storm travelled west across the island, the government said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Freddy made landfall in southeastern Madagascar with a wind speed of up to 180 km per hour (110 miles per hour) as the storm flooded the area and wrenched roofs off houses. It arrived in Madagascar a month after the storm Chenesco killed 33 people and displaced several from their homes in Madagascar.
The government’s National Office of Risks and Disaster said in a statement that the death toll had risen to four from one. It said that the tropical storm displaced 11,047 people, flooded 2,276 houses and 2,267 houses were destroyed.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Freddy can potentially reappear in the Mozambique Channel, gaining strength before making landfall in Mozambique and then moving to Zimbabwe after making landfall in Madagascar.
OCHA said the storm could affect a total of 3.3 million people in Mozambique, Madagascar and Zimbabwe, according to the assessment of the World Food Programme.
