As team Nomad Africa we always plan our adventures well in advance with vigor and zest so we were planning our ‘Explore Malawi’ adventure for close to a year before we rode off into the Malawian sunset in early February.
Like every other tourist, our vacation checklist was lengthy, comprehensive and included every travel hack known to man. We have all read these travel ‘do & don’ts written by hundreds of travel ‘smart Alecks’ across the world, ourselves included, but we had to learn our lesson the hard way as all of our meticulous planning fell flat in the face of the huge wakeup call that awaited us.
Then again can anyone ever be fully prepared for disaster? Moreover, who is responsible for making sure locals and hapless tourists like us are protected when tragedy strikes paradise?
Join us as we seek to answer these questions by giving our first-hand account together with other eyewitness stories of some often quickly forgotten victims of Southern Africa’s lack of disaster preparedness in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Freddy.
This is the second part of our special feature series, based on our adventures, and misadventures in this sub-tropical cultural hotbed, Malawi.
Behind the Scenes of a Natural Disaster
When you read the eyewitness accounts of survivors of the worst natural disasters, they all usually bear an eerily similar ‘calm before the storm’ storyline to what was going on around us in those early days of February.
Most of us in Southern Africa were indeed blissfully unaware of the looming danger and certainly, none of us would have cared much that there was some swirling whirlpool of air was developing deep in the Indian Ocean more than 9 thousand kilometers from the African continent because the atmosphere really was so deceptively calm.
Remember, we were even lazing it up on the beach at Lake Malawi just a few days before the storm. If you missed our part one feature story, Read About it Here.
The Evolution of Cyclone Freddy
The one thing most natural disasters have in common is that they are typically predictable and meteorology experts have developed tools to pick up on them as soon as they develop so one would think in this day and age, we should have always ample warning…right?
Well, apparently in Africa not so right as we will soon demonstrate.
Cyclone Freddy was first officially sighted on 5 February, although Climatologists have now confirmed that the storm probably developed around 1 February as shown by these satellite images on platforms like zoom.earth.
According to satellite imagery, more than 3 weeks later, the cyclone had made landfall for the first time near Mananjary, Madagascar but statistically with very minimal damage or loss of life at that point before it seemed to suddenly change its course.
On the ground in Southern Africa, everyone was still unsure what to make of the warnings since the alerts kept being sounded on and off but it was becoming clear to anyone following this unpredictable tropical storm that this was no ordinary storm, as it was literally running circles around the experts.
At this point it was now clear that the cyclone would reach landfall in and around Africa, but even the predictions for which areas exactly were likely to be hit kept shifting between the usual flood hot zones like Masvingo in Zimbabwe, Maputo in Mozambique, and Limpopo in South Africa.
Although Freddy kept changing lanes, Malawi was hardly ever mentioned as being in much potential danger, and especially not for inland Cities like Blantyre where we were staying.
So, for the next 2 weeks, from around 15- 27 February, there was no sign of Freddy on land. We remained in tourist mode, pretty chilled, relaxed, and already planning our next stop at the Majestic Mount Mulanje.
It even felt like there was no more talk at all about the cyclone, and it seemed to have predictably missed the mainland to head back into the ocean away from Africa. Inevitably jokes and memes started going around mocking the cyclone for being unreliable because it was ‘named after a guy’.
Everything changed on Saturday, March 11 at approximately 14:00 hours on Saturday when the cyclone hit the coast of Mozambique with wind speeds of as high as 170 km per hour. This time, it was officially announced that the cyclone, had not only picked up speed and strength but that it had re-routed and was now headed directly for Malawi.
The storm struck Mozambique with a bang in a very sparsely populated area, and reportedly killing an estimated 198 people leaving a trail of wreckage within 12 hours.
Caught In the Eye of a Deadly Storm
We awoke to a deafening crash, and sounds of terrified screams at around 2 am on the night the epicenter of Cyclone hit Blantyre to find that the ground felt like it was vibrating and it sounded like our whole house had caved in.
All along authorities had been advising us that all would be well as long as we stayed indoors. But what happens when you can’t be safe anymore in your own home anymore?
This was the question we faced when, to our shock, we discovered that part of our outer wall had fallen and smashed part of some bedroom windows and walls!
Taking Stock of the Disaster and Eyewitness
Imagine going to sleep with your family and then waking up to your house being swept away with no way of holding on to your family or any of your possessions.
This was the story of many of the survivors of the heavy floods and mudslides that washed away countless homes and left an estimated 1500 people either dead or missing and presumed dead.
All around us, were sounds of wailing sirens rushing to attend medical emergency after emergency though clearly the help came too late for many.
Thankfully for us, our bedrooms mostly stayed intact, with only a few broken windows, so no one had been hurt but needless to say, all the inhabitants of the house were pretty shaken up and so we huddled together for the rest of that night.
And, although our team all escaped at least physically unscathed, we all couldn’t help but wonder how the rest of the smaller villages and poorer neighborhoods without strong houses had fared.
Horrific reports and social media videos were already circulating painting a dismal picture of the destruction the storm had done especially to small villages and townships where infrastructure was virtually wiped away leaving survivors to try to scramble to safer ground.
Even up to now, It is difficult for the government to release an actual confirmed figure of how many perished because, in most of the most affected densely populated townships or villages, the inhabitants are the poorest of the poor with many not even having an official birth certificate.
So in those following days and weeks, locals and a few rescue teams had to rely on the memories of fellow villagers to try to figure out who might be missing or where their bodies might be. Many survivors are still battling unspeakable personal trauma from having to watch their family members die or having to help dig out bodies of those buried in the mudslides sometimes with their bare hands.
So, What made Cyclone Freddy so Different and Dangerous?
Cyclone season happens every year in tropical Southern Africa causing flash floods here and there but in the past, most cyclones normally follow a predictable pattern and this was the tune most meteorologists were singing.
I mean, why should we ever expect anything different?
Unfortunately, this cyclone wasn’t playing by the rules at all judging by these findings published by The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) which stated that Freddy is now on record as
- Longest-lasting cyclone in history-
Freddy was first spotted around the 5th of February 2023, (but most experts agree that it probably developed around 1 February) and traversed the southern Indian Ocean for more than five weeks in February and March 2023.
No other cyclone had ever lasted beyond 3 weeks.
- Highest ACE-producing tropical cyclone ever recorded worldwide.
It is estimated that at its highest peak, the storm sustained winds of up to 270 km/h (165 mph) equivalent to Category 5 strength on the Saffir–Simpson scale.
No other cyclone in Southern Africa had ever recorded such levels, followed closely only by Cyclone Eline in the year 2000 which recorded 115 as its highest speed.
- The most unpredictable weather pattern ever known for a cyclone
Normally cyclones start off with high speeds and strength but gradually lose their intensity with time. But Freddy only seemed to be doing the opposite occasionally losing speed and strength before rapidly gaining it again.
How Prepared are we as a Continent for Natural Disasters?
Needless to say, Malawi bore the brunt of this disaster with the official death toll said to be at least 1000 with an estimated 500 more still missing (feared dead) according to UNICEF Malawi, in total over 563,60 people from 15 districts were displaced by cyclone Freddy.
Our crew visited one of the relief shelters that took in stranded villagers in the wake of the tragedy to see how some of the survivors have fared in the wake of this tragedy.
Statistics show that African countries typically do not experience natural disasters on a mass scale as compared to other continents like Asia for example, which mostly bears the brunt of the worst natural catastrophes such as the 2008 Indonesian Tsunami, one of the worst disasters in modern history which killed an estimated 300 thousand people in less than 24 hours.
So yes, the one thing Africa is known and loved for, that is, our beautiful, bright sun-shiny weather ironically might be one of the biggest reasons why we are the least prepared continent in the world when it comes to disaster awareness or preparedness.
In March 2019, in response to the flooding and heavy rains related to cyclone Idai that killed 60 people in Malawi and affected the livelihoods of over 870,000, the Global Logistics Cluster presented the Malawi ‘Preparedness Project’ to the country’s National Logistics stakeholders to enable coordination between the various humanitarian stakeholders and government-led logistics operations to better prepare Malawi for possible future disasters.
Yet in spite of all these noble preparedness policies, projects, and politicking, the death toll from these cyclones seems to only be rising each year. When cyclone Freddy alerts started being sounded, the only action most of us knew of was that the government closed schools and asked people to stay at home.
Yet all over the region, there were reports of villagers being stranded for days with no help in sight on flooded bridges, or rooftops and hilltops many of which then collapsed or succumbed to mudslides which increased the toll even more.
This tik-toker was just one of the hundreds who posted eyewitness footage of al little boy being rescued by fellow villagers from a flooded river.
@mozzechaps23 #malawiantiktok???????? #tiktokzambia???????? 100%purelove #Cyclonefreddy
What can Africa learn from other areas about disaster pre-emptive action?
Reports say in other areas surrounding Africa, preparations for the same storm were handled in what seems to have been a more effective way, which reduced the number of fatalities.
In the Mascarene Islands, preparations included flight groundings, cyclone alerts, and personnel being prepped for the aftermath, among other things.
On the Réunion Islands, a class one cyclone warning was issued and later a class II cyclone warning was issued and immediately
- The island’s power company, EDF La Réunion, prepped 200 personnel with a further 100 people from subcontracted companies for immediate repairs once storm conditions subsided.
- Call centers were staffed with 60 additional workers. The company also prepped 50 vehicles, electrical equipment, 15 generators, and 4 helicopters for use.
- High seas prompted the closure of the Nouvelle Route du Littoral with bus shuttles established to transport residents through inland routes to and from communities in the north and west.
- All service at Roland Garros Airport was suspended the same day, with service to resume following the cyclone’s passage.
- A red alert for coastal flooding was issued for areas between Champs Borne and Pointe des Cascades.
- The city of Saint-Benoît opened two public shelters and closed all sporting facilities.
- Officials in Saint-Pierre postponed a local carnival for more than two weeks
- Tents, ropes, chainsaws, and other supplies have been sent by the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC) to the eastern districts.
- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and its partners deployed 80 humanitarian staff to Mahanoro, Mananjary, and Manakara, and placed two aircraft on standby.
- Medair already had field offices in place after Cyclone Cheneso in southern and south-eastern Madagascar.
- Emphasis was placed on providing clean drinking water and emergency kits to residents in Marondava and Maroansetra.
As a result of such preparedness, officials note that at least 7,000 people were pre-emptively evacuated from at-risk coastal regions before Freddy’s arrival.
What is clear from such examples is that detailed mitigation of this kind is possible and obviously the most effective way of at the very least minimizing loss of precious lives in times of natural disasters that also kill the cultural and warm spirit of places like this ‘Warm Heart of Africa’.
Now that the damage is done, what can we do to help?
One can only hope that disaster preparedness in Africa ceases to be merely made up of aesthetically pleasing boardroom presentations that have little impact on the ground while the ordinary citizen is left to face the harsh wrath of mother nature year after year.
Unicef Malawi reports that of the worst affected 287,437 of these are children and 210,974 of them are at risk. They have a page that details the support being given to many of those affected running under the social handles #ForEveryChild, using #CycloneFreddyResponse.
To find out how to help read more HERE.
 Keep your eye on our Nomad Africa digital pages for the final installment of our Exploring Malawi series which will include;
- Our trip to Mount Mulanje and the amazing cultural discoveries show how the Malawian spirit is never broken
- An exclusive interview with Malawi’s youngest female minister, Tourism Minister Vera Kamtukule on how Southern African tourism is picking up the pieces in the wake of the disaster.
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