Malawi Government says the death toll for Cyclone Freddy induced heavy rains and floods so far has risen to 190 but official assessments indicate more than 300 people may have died with some seriously injured people likely to die as hospitals fail to cope.
The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) said this at the emergency data centre in Limbe and on the sideline interview with Nyasa Times.
Army on a rescue mission
Spokesperson for DoDMA, Chipiliro Khamula was briefing Minister of Natural Resources, Micheal Usi, at the centre.
He said the cyclone has displaced over 4300 households as of Tuesday morning.
So far, 784 people have been injured while 37 known people by neighbours are still missing in Blantyre alone.
He further said rescue efforts are still underway.
Usi is one of the cabinet ministers visiting affected cities in Blantyre.
Meanwhile, weather experts say cyclone Freddy has finally dissipated over southern Malawi and Mozambique, 38 days after originally forming to the north-west of Australia.
Although Freddy is no longer a cyclone, this area of low pressure will continue to bring strong winds and flooding rains to parts of Malawi today and tomorrow.
There will be strong wind gusts today in the south of the country close to 80 kilometres an hour, weakening quickly tonight.
More heavy and flooding rains are on the way over the next 24 hours at least, with between 300mm and 400mm of rain expected across the southern tip of Malawi up until Wednesday next week.
