190 dead after Tropical Cyclone Freddy rips through Africa's Malawi

MALAWI: At least 190 people have died after Tropical Cyclone Freddy ripped through southern Malawi, local authorities said on Tuesday, CNN reported.

This comes as survivors continue to look for loved ones in badly hit areas.
At least 584 have been injured and 37 people have been reported missing in the country.

Malawi is a country in East Africa.

Malawi Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change on Tuesday said the cyclone is "weakening but will continue to cause torrential rains associated with windy conditions in most parts of Southern Malawi districts."

"The threat of heavy flooding and damaging winds remains very high," the report added.

Commissioner for the Department of Disaster Management Affairs agency, Charles Kalemba told CNN that the situation had worsened in southern Malawi.

"It's worse today. A number of places are flooding and a number of roads and bridges are cut. Visibility is almost zero. Electricity is off and also the network is a problem. It's becoming more and more dire," Kalemba said, adding that rescue operations have also been affected by poor weather, CNN reported.

"It's tough. We need to use machinery (for rescue operations) but machines cannot go to places where they were supposed to excavate because of the rains," Kalemba added.

Malawi's Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services on Monday warned that "the threat of damaging winds and heavy flooding remains very high."

Kalemba added that an improvement in weather is expected from Wednesday. "Possibly by tomorrow, the cyclone may have passed. We are hoping to see improvement from tomorrow but today is worse. There are heavy rains and lots of water."