In early February, a storm off the coast of Australia, named Freddy, started a record-breaking journey westward across the Indian Ocean to southern East Africa. Freddy may have been the longest-lived cyclone in history and went through the most cycles of weakening and re-intensifying on record, making multiple and deadly landfalls over a 5-week period in Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar.
Tropical Cyclone Freddy hit Malawi and Mozambique multiple times in March 2023 dumping unprecedented amounts of rain — about six months’ worth in six days at the worst point. The storm first struck Southern Africa in late February, hitting Madagascar and Mozambique. It then moved back out over the Indian Ocean, where it drew more power from the warm waters before making a rare course reversal to slam into the mainland a second time and Malawi and Mozambique became the hardest hit countries facing sustained winds of nearly 150 kilometers per hour, heavy rainfall, and flooding which created great devastation in various areas of both countries.
In Malawi, the devastation by Tropical Cyclone Freddy affected nearly 2.3 million people, displaced over 650,000 (including over a quarter million children) and killed 679 people with over 500 people still missing. Critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, electricity powerlines were damaged affecting access and provision of essential services. Timely search and rescue efforts were hampered when large numbers of people were trapped in mudflows, and communities were unreachable due to roads and bridges that were swept away. Many places remain inaccessible due to washed away roads. Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera declared a state of disaster in the affected districts on March 13 calling for additional support from the international community. In other districts, villages have completely been wiped away by rockfalls unleashed by the rainfall leaving only large white boulders, sand and floodwaters covering the area where homes once stood.
In Mozambique, Tropical Cyclone Freddy affected 1.1 million people, displaced nearly 640,000, and killed 314 people. An estimated 132,000 homes, more than 300 health facilities, and 1,043 schools were destroyed, the latter affecting about 1.2 million students. The cyclone caused a rapid spread of the cholera outbreak that was affecting the country since December 2022, with 27,353 cases (as of April 19). Nearly 134,000 hectares of land were lost, as well as critical infrastructure such as electricity powerlines, water pipes, roads, and bridges disrupting the provision of essential services. The Mozambican Council of Ministers declared a state of red alert on February 21, the highest level, to improve the readiness and response to this disaster.
Managing Director of Operations Anna Bjerde will be visiting Malawi from April 27-29 on her first trip in this role to discuss current and future World Bank support to Malawi. As part of this mission, she will visit an area affected by Cyclone Freddy to reinforce the World Bank’s commitment to the country’s recovery.
How you can Help
The sponsors of this relief effort have selected UNICEF’s dedicated Cyclone Freddy emergency response programs that are providing life-saving support to children, women and families in the flooded districts. UNICEF has already delivered essential medicines, lifesaving water and sanitation support, household and water purification supplies, micronutrients for malnourished children and pregnant women, educational supplies and recreational kits, UNICEF is providing immediate support and is also providing protection and psychosocial support services to affected children and families.
Donate here now: https://worldbankgroup.benevity.org/campaigns/351 – or access eGive through the Retiree Pension portal (https://pension.worldbank.org/) and find the relief site under “Explore” “Featured Content” on the carousel. If you have any issues accessing the site, please use Chrome.
Click here for the instructions on how to access the CCC platform and how to make a donation
*Staff and consultants in HQ and Country Offices and retirees can participate.
*Donations for this drive can be made by credit or debit card and PayPal. Credit card payments may be subject to fees from your credit card provider. Please contact your credit card provider for further details.
*Donations will be eligible for a 50% matching donation from the World Bank Group if at least 100 staff pledge a total of $10,000.
This relief drive is jointly sponsored by the Executive Directors Office for Malawi and Mozambique (EDS14), and concerned Malawian and Mozambican World Bank Group & International Monetary Fund Staff, and is coordinated by ECRVP Community Connections in collaboration with the Country Management Units for Malawi and Mozambique.
