32 days and counting: How Freddy is hurtling its way into becoming the world’s ‘longest-lasting’ tropical cyclone

Weeks after battering the southeastern African nation of Mozambique, Tropical Cyclone Freddy is again expected to make a comeback this week. The storm, which is predicted to intensify today (9 March), will hit Mozambique on Friday night. Earlier, it had struck the island country of Madagascar for a second time this Monday. As per Associated Press (AP), the United Nations’ monitoring station on Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean, has warned that Freddy will “gradually intensify to the stage of a tropical cyclone or even an intense tropical cyclone” over the Mozambique Channel before making landfall overnight on Friday. On Tuesday, the cyclone was located in the Mozambique Channel, with wind gusts of up to 180 kilometers per hour, reported AFP. The storm had first hit Mozambique and Madagascar in late February. BBC report says that the cyclone is on its way to becoming the “longest-lasting” storm on record as it has been circling over the Indian Ocean for 32 days. Here’s all you need to know about how “dangerous” Cyclone Freddy has affected southeastern Africa. Cyclone Freddy The cyclone was first detected by a monitoring center in Melbourne, Australia, on 6 February which assigned it the name, Freddy. Since then it travelled across the entire southern Indian Ocean, noted AP. [caption id=“attachment_12263422” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Cyclone Freddy has been circling over the Indian Ocean for the last 32 days. Reuters File Photo[/caption] Plowing through the islands of Mauritius and La Réunion, the storm made its way from the South Indian Ocean towards southeast Africa, as per CNN.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has dubbed Cyclone Freddy a “very rare” storm and called its journey “incredible and dangerous.”

Freddy ushers death and destruction Cyclone Freddy first wreaked havoc in Madagascar on 21 February before striking Mozambique three days later. The storm brought heavy rainfall, powerful winds and flooding, leaving at least 21 people dead across both countries. The Madagascar government said the cyclone has affected more than 40,000 people and displaced over 14,000 as it reemerged this Monday after traversing an “unusual path”, reported AFP. In the last week alone, Madagascar – which is prone to cyclones – received around three times its usual monthly average rainfall, noted BBC. The island nation is struck by an average of 1.5 cyclones annually – the highest rate in Africa – according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. According to UN World Food Programme, Freddy has affected lakhs of people. “Freddy is having a major socio-economic and humanitarian impact on affected communities,” Johan Stander, WMO services director, said in a statement. On 24 February, the cyclone made landfall in the coastal town of Vilanculos in Mozambique. As per the United Nations weather agency, the storm then dumped “dangerous and exceptional rainfall levels” over the country. [caption id=“attachment_12263482” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Tropical Cyclone Freddy, which brought heavy rainfall and destruction to Mozambique late February, is expected to hit the country again on Friday. AP File Photo[/caption] Mozambique’s National Institute for Disaster Risk Management said that the storm has affected an estimated 2,13,000 people and destroyed more than 28,000 homes in the capital of Maputo and nearby provinces, reported AP. The cyclone also triggered torrential rains in eastern areas of Zimbabwe. ALSO READ: The countries most vulnerable to climate change Cyclone Freddy’s second coming After soaking Madagascar and Mozambique for several days in late February, the cyclone looped back “towards the Mozambique Channel and picked up energy from the warm waters”, according to the WMO. It then started heading towards the southwestern coast of Madagascar, where it again brought torrential downpours. According to the French weather agency Météo-France, Freddy –  which has periodically weakened over the last 32 days – is now moving away from the island nation and is predicted to gain pace before it makes landfall in Mozambique for the second time. It is projected to hit Zambezia, the country’s second most populous province. Meteorologists say the storm has already intensified four different times, a first for a tropical cyclone in the southern hemisphere, as per AP.

US space agency NASA says Freddy has set the world record for accumulated cyclone energy, a metric to ascertain a cyclone’s strength over time.

WMO is monitoring the storm to check if Freddy will become the world’s longest-lasting tropical cyclone, breaking the record of Hurricane John or Typhoon John which lasted 31 days in 1994.

Tropical cyclone #Freddy is again impacting Mozambique and Madagascar after starting its journey near Australia 6 Feb.
WMO Weather and Climate Extremes Committee will evaluate whether it will break the record set by #John (31 days in 1994)
🔗 https://t.co/qnOeLn98hc pic.twitter.com/4kelhwNiqv

— World Meteorological Organization (@WMO) March 8, 2023

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Freddy “does appear to be a new record holder for longest-lasting recorded tropical cyclone”, WMO Weather and Climate Extremes Rapporteur, Randall Cerveny, said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are continuing to monitor the situation,” he added. While it is early to predict the impact of climate change on Cyclone Freddy, scientists have been warned how climate change is “intensifying cyclones, making them longer, wetter and more frequent”, noted AP. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.