Cyclone Freddie hit the South East African country of Mozambique for the second time in two weeks. One death has been reported so far. Many areas were devastated by the strong cyclone, houses were destroyed and trees were uprooted. Freddie is on track to hold the record for longest-lasting hurricane. The storm started to hit coastal areas around 10pm local time on Saturday. Analyzing satellite data, the heavy storm with rain hit the coast of South Africa a few hours later. The storm hit Indonesia on February 6. Then the cyclone hit Mozambique for the second time. Earlier, at least 27 people died in the storm in the region. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says Freddie is a tropical cyclone. It weakened at Quiliman in Central Zambezia province. The storm has created a risk of severe flooding in Zambezia and neighboring Nampula provinces. River water is flowing above the danger level. The country’s state broadcaster TVM says one person has died after a house collapsed due to the storm. The authorities have shut down the power transmission line as a precaution. All flight operations have been suspended. Vanya Masingu, a resident of Quiliman, said the port city was put on lockdown before the storm hit. The World Meteorological Organization says Cyclone Freddie has been hovering over the southern Indian Ocean for about 34 days. It is set to become the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record. The previous record for the duration of this storm was in 1994. This storm lasted for 31 days at that time. Freddie began hitting northwest Australia in the first week of February. The storm crossed the entire southern Indian Ocean and hit Madagascar on February 21, before reaching Mozambique on February 24.
Source: Al-Jazeera
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