Freddy

History

Severe Tropical Cyclone Freddy originated from a tropical low south of the Indonesian archipelago on 4 February 2023, and over the following weeks traversed the entire southern Indian Ocean from east to west — a journey that ultimately lasted 36 days, making it the longest-lasting tropical cyclone ever recorded globally. It underwent six separate rounds of rapid intensification, reaching a peak intensity of 230 km/h (10-minute sustained winds) and a central pressure of 927 hPa as a very intense tropical cyclone in the South-West Indian Ocean, equivalent to Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson scale.

Freddy made multiple landfalls: first near Mananjary, Madagascar on 21 February 2023 as a strong Category 2-equivalent storm, then near Vilankulos, Mozambique on 24 February, and finally near Quelimane, Mozambique on 11 March before dissipating on 14 March. The cyclone also produced the second-highest accumulated cyclone energy of any individual tropical cyclone on record.

Impacts were widespread and severe across Madagascar, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and particularly Malawi, where catastrophic flash flooding struck Blantyre and the national power grid was crippled. In total, Freddy caused at least 1,434 deaths, 2,004 injuries, 19 people missing, and approximately US$1.53 billion in damage, ranking it the third-deadliest Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone on record. The name Freddy was subsequently retired by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and replaced with Frederic in 2025.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia