Cyclone Freddy Turned Much More Tragic As It Broke Records For Longevity, Power

Satellite photo of Cyclone Freddy between Madagascar and
Mozambique.  It caused catastrophic flooding and 
will go down in history as the world's longest 
lasting tropical cyclone on record. 

 Back on March 9, I posted on a storm known as Cyclone Freddy, which was near the east coast of Africa that day. 

It was about to break records for the longest lasting tropical cyclone on record for anywhere on Earth.

So here's a followup: 

Unfortunately, since then, Freddy strengthened, and slammed into Mozambique for a second time, and in this second hit, unleaded floods that killed hundreds. 

At last check, Freddy had killed no fewer than 522 people in Mozambique, Malawi and Madagascar. 

As Al Jazeeri reports, Mozambique and Malawi were both dealing with cholera outbreaks before the storm, so this will only make things worse.

The storm finally dissipated last Wednesday inland over Mozambique as it continued to unleash its torrential rains. 

It looks like Freddy lasted 36 days, which would exceed the record by Typhoon/Hurricane John in the Pacific Ocean back in 1994. It's unusual for a tropical system to last more than a couple weeks. 

It's unclear how climate change affected Freddy's strength and longevity, but it's certainly more than plausible that had an effect.  Climate scientists warn that in many parts of the world, tropical cyclones are becoming more powerful and persistent under the influence of a warming planet. 

As Guy On Climate put it:

"It's fairly easy to see why Freddy's behavior can be blamed on climate change. They system traversed warmer than average waters on its long path across the Indian Ocean and between Madagascar and the African coast."

The World Meteorological Organization will examine the history of Freddy and later certify whether or not it was indeed the record hold for most long-lived tropical cyclone.