The cyclone that hit south-east Africa in 2023 thus dethrones “John” which was born in the North Pacific in 1994 and which retained the status of tropical storm or higher for 714 hours, 29.75 days, announced the World Meteorological Organization on Tuesday, July 2.
Active for 36 days, tropical cyclone Freddy, which wreaked human and economic havoc in south-eastern Africa in February-March 2023, is officially the longest-lasting cyclone on record, the UN said on Tuesday.
An international committee of experts from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has validated for Freddy “the duration of 36.0 days with tropical storm status or higher, as the new world record for the longest duration of a tropical cyclone,” according to a statement from the UN agency.
“John”, which originated in the North Pacific in 1994, remains the tropical storm with the longest distance ever recorded, at 13,159 kilometers, while Freddy covered a distance of only 12,785 kilometers.
“Significant consequences for the populations of South-East Africa”
The WMO does not make a direct link between Freddy’s exceptional longevity and human-induced climate change. But on its tropical cyclone page, the WMO points out that “climate change is linked not only to an increased probability of major hurricanes, but also to a direct increase in their destructive power.”
“Freddy was a remarkable tropical cyclone, not only for its longevity but also for its ability to survive multiple land interactions, which unfortunately had significant consequences for the people of southeast Africa,” said committee member Chris Velden, a tropical cyclone expert at the University of Wisconsin in the United States.
“Due to its prolonged passage near and over land, Freddy was particularly destructive, particularly in Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique,” the WMO further noted.
Hundreds dead
Malawi has paid a particularly heavy price from this cyclone with more than 1,200 people dead or missing and more than 2,100 injured, the WMO said. The hurricane struck at a time when the country was already experiencing a serious cholera epidemic and only added to the population’s hardship with torrential rains causing flooding.
In Mozambique, more than 1.3 million people have been affected, with more than 180 deaths. In Madagascar, nearly 200,000 people have been affected by the first and second impacts of the phenomenon.
The damage caused by Freddy is estimated at $481 million, according to African Risk Capacity, a specialized agency of the African Union.
