More Than 100 Killed in Southern African Storms

More than 100 people have been killed in Mozambique and Malawi by storms which ravaged southern Africa for the second time in a month over the weekend, also injuring dozens, and leaving a path of destruction.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, Tropical Storm Freddy is one of the strongest cyclones ever recorded in the southern hemisphere and could be the longest-lasting tropical cyclone.

It pounded central Mozambique on Saturday, ripping off roofs and causing extensive flooding around the port of Quelimane, before moving inland toward Malawi with torrential rains that triggered landslides.

Charles Kalemba, the commissioner of the department of disaster management affairs, reported on Monday that the storm has killed 99 people in Malawi, including 85 in Blantyre, the main commercial center.

Storm Freddy has murdered a total of 136 people in Mozambique, Malawi, and Madagascar since making landfall one month ago.

The complete extent of the damage and loss of life in Mozambique, in particular, is not yet known, as the power supply and phone signals have been cut off in parts of the affected region. In the following days, the death toll is likely to rise.