Cyclone Freddy makes landfall on Madagascar
Tropical cyclone Freddy made landfall on Madagascar Tuesday evening, arriving just north of Mananjary around 7:20 p.m. local time with damaging winds, heavy rain and seas reaching heights of more than six meters.
Winds had weakened to 110 kilometers per hour (kph) with 155 km/h winds near the storm’s center, according to the National Bureau of Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC) in Madagascar. The winds continued to weaken as the storm made its way across the southeastern districts, where a red-flag weather warning remained in effect.
There were no immediate reports on the extent of casualties or damage in Madagascar, which continues to recover from the impacts caused by Tropical Storm Cheneso in January. It led to dozens of storm-related deaths and significant infrastructure damage to the Indian Ocean island nation.
Cyclone Freddy, expected to dump more than 100 millimeters of rain along its trajectory, was headed southwest and expected to exit into the Mozambique Channel on Wednesday afternoon. It’s expected to strike Mozambique on Friday as a much weaker tropical storm.
The Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INAM) in Maputo is monitoring the storm but has not yet issued any warnings.
An active cyclone season has been expected in Mozambique due to warmer than average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the channel, where SSTs are currently a very warm 29°C. Five to seven tropical storms and cyclones are expected between December 2022 and April 2023, according to the World Food Program, with up to four expected to be major cyclones of Category 3 or higher.
Image: Météo Madagascar/BNGRC
Laureen Fagan
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Laureen is a freelance journalist creating high-quality, informed content on international affairs, politics and technology. She has worked both in and out of newsrooms since 2000. She is a former paramedic with significant experience in community resilience and nonprofit community development initiatives, and maintains "a passion for action" on sustainability and climate change. She also is trained in conflict resolution and diversity, and has special interests in science and medical reporting, and culture and religion issues. Laureen received her MSJ from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism in the United States, and completed additional graduate study in theology at University of Notre Dame. Follow Laureen on Mastodon at @laureen@m.ai6yr.org
