Cyclone Freddy death toll jumps to over 1,000, Malawi president says

BLANTYRE (Reuters) – The death toll from Cyclone Freddy has risen sharply to more than 1,000 people, Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera said on Wednesday, as the southern African nation continues to recover from one of the deadliest storms to hit the continent in the last two decades.

Cyclone Freddy left a trail of destruction in its wake after ripping through Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar, first in late February before circling back in March.

The storm affected over 2 million people and displaced over half a million as it washed away homes, roads and other infrastructure, Chakwera said.

He did not give an explanation as to why the death toll had jumped from an estimate of more than 500 people on March 20, but hundreds of people were still missing in Malawi in late March.

Freddy developed off the coast of Australia, crossed the entire South Indian Ocean and travelled more than 8,000 km (4,970 miles) before making landfall in Madagascar.

(Reporting by Frank Phiri; Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Alexander Winning and Toby Chopra)