Tropical Storm Freddy in Mozambique

Tropical Storm Freddy made landfall in Vilankulo district, Inhambane province on 24 February, reaching Mozambique as a moderate tropical storm, with winds of 95 km/h, and further weakened to tropical storm with winds of 55km/h in the course of 25 February.

Freddy tracked across seven districts in Inhambane (Funhalouro, Govuro, Inhassoro, Mabote, Massinga, Morrumbene, Vilankulo) and the district of Gaza (Chigubo), an area where close to one million people live.

The National Institute of Meteorology (INAM) warned that rainfall above 200 mm per day would affect Gaza, Manica, Inhambane, and Sofala over the period 25-27 February.

Widespread damage to public infrastructure and services were reported, including over one thousand schools, many health units and close to four thousand kilometres of roads. Damages to road infrastructure severely affected movement across the country which has had a serious impact on economic activity such as trade.

Some centralized water supply systems and an unknown number of water sources have been damaged leaving thousands of people with no access to safe water.

Related News and Resources:

• EUMETSAT Case Study on Tropical Cyclone Freddy
• UNOSAT Flood AI Monitoring Dashboard for Mozambique