The cyclone made a “rare loop” on the Indian Ocean island for the second time in a few weeks.
Four people, including two children, died in the unusual return of a cyclone in Madagascar in the south-west of the island state. According to the authorities, cyclone “Freddy” set course for the island in the Indian Ocean once more 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 severe devastation in Madagascar at the end of February. On Monday followingnoon, “Freddy” passed southwest of the coastal town of Toliara once more with gusts of up to 125 kilometers per hour and should continue to strengthen on its way towards Mozambique. According to authorities, more than 600 houses were damaged when the cyclone returned, and 11,000 people lost their homes.
Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world, is currently struggling with 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 strongest and most persistent storms in the region in recent memory. However, the “loop track” is “very rare,” said Meteo Madagascar’s chief meteorologist, Rivo Randrianarison, of the AFP news agency. Meteorologists last recorded a similar path for a tropical storm in 1998.
(APA/AFP)
