The cyclone made a “rare loop” over the Indian Ocean island for the second time in as few weeks.
Four people, including two children, were killed in the unusual return of a cyclone in Madagascar, in the southwest of the island state. According to authorities, Cyclone “Freddy” returned to the island in the Indian Ocean on Monday in a “rare loop” for the second time in a few weeks. This increases the number of people who died as a result of “Freddy” to a total of eleven.
The tropical storm had already caused major devastation in Madagascar in late February. On Monday afternoon, the “Freddy” again passed southwest of the coastal town of Toliara with gusts of up to 125 kilometers per hour and should continue to gain strength on its way to Mozambique. According to authorities, more than 600 homes were damaged when the cyclone returned and 11,000 people lost their homes.
Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world, is currently facing a drought in the south of the country and, at the same time, is in the middle of the cyclone season, which lasts from November to April on the island. “Freddy” is one of the region’s strongest and most persistent storms in recent memory. However, the “loop runway” is “very rare”, Meteo Madagascar’s chief meteorologist, Rivo Randrianarison, told the AFP news agency. Meteorologists last recorded a similar path for a tropical storm in 1998.
(APA/AFP)