The United Nations announced on Friday that Cyclone Freddy is on course to break the record for the lengthiest cyclone ever as the deadly storm got ready to hit Mozambique once more.
According to Clare Nullis, a spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Freddy is continuing its amazing and perilous journey.
On February 6, Freddy, a tropical storm at the time that had its origins off the northern Australian coast, was given a name.
Typhoon John set the previous record for the duration in 1994, lasting 31 days, according to the WMO.
For 33 days, Freddy has been a named tropical cyclone.
A WMO panel of experts on climate extremes will review all the information after it dissipates to determine whether a new record has actually been set. According to Nullis, the procedure could take several months.
Freddy has occasionally lost its tropical storm status due to weakness.
Randall Cerveny, the WMO’s rapporteur on extreme weather and climate conditions, stated, “We will obviously have to take that into account in our assessment.
Freddy made landfall in Madagascar on February 21 before moving across the island to Mozambique on February 24, having traversed the entire southern Indian Ocean.
It caused flooding and heavy rain as it passed through Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Before hitting Madagascar once more, it made a loop back to the coast, where the warm water refueled it with moisture and energy.
Currently, it is moving toward Mozambique. The northern province of Zambezia is where Freddy is predicted to make landfall on Friday night or possibly Saturday morning.
In addition to Mozambique, northeastern Zimbabwe, southeastern Zambia, and Malawi will also experience extremely heavy rainfall, very damaging winds, and a very dangerous storm surge over land.
Expected rainfall amounts are in the 200-300 mm range, but they could exceed 400-500 mm locally.
In addition to the prior rainfall brought on by Freddy, this rainfall is “more than double the usual monthly rainfall,” according to Nullis.
Tropical cyclones Leon-Eline and Hudah, which swept across the entire southern Indian Ocean in 2000, were the last to do so.
