Hurricane Freddy threatened Madagascar and Mozambique earlier this week

Hurricane Freddy, which was upgraded to a super tropical cyclone on February 19, is expected to make landfall in Madagascar this week and has caused at least one death.

The recent tropical cyclone Cheneso that hit the country killed dozens of people.

Freddie is expected to cause more damage.

Winds are expected to reach 140 mph, making it a Category 4 cyclone strength, or very strong tropical cyclone status.

Madagascar braces for Hurricane Freddie

(Photo: LAURA MOROSOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Although a slight decrease in intensity is forecast for the next few days, when Freddy makes landfall in Madagascar, gusts are expected to reach around 100 mph, a Category 2 cyclone.

There is also a high risk of deadly landslides due to potentially damaging winds and 100 to 200mm of rain.

Freddy had been crossing the Indian Ocean for several weeks, becoming a Category 1 cyclone in southern Indonesia on February 6.

Over the next 14 days, it traveled nearly 4,000 miles across the ocean to reach its current location, about 1,000 miles off the east coast of Madagascar, according to protector.

Only Eline and Hudah are known to have crossed the Indian Ocean in 2000.

Although Freddy appears to be a very long-lasting cyclone that has moved across the ocean, it is still a long way from the furthest-moving and longest-lasting cyclones.

Hurricane John, also known as Typhoon John, traveled more than 7,000 miles in 31 days in 1994.

The hurricane starts in the eastern Pacific and travels so far west that it is classified as a typhoon due to its presence in both the eastern and western basins of the Pacific Ocean.

Once Freddy makes landfall, its interaction with land elevation and lack of a source of moisture will cause it to weaken rapidly, with winds dropping to around 50 mph by the time the hurricane clears Madagascar’s west coast.

Also read: Tropical Cyclone Charlotte expected to weaken off Western Australia coast

Freddy has been nervous for days

As of Monday night, Cyclone Freddy was equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane (US time).

Over the weekend, it reached Category 5 strength, according to weather channel.

Freddy’s Gyre is likely to continue westward after hitting Madagascar, possibly reaching Mozambique later this week, but the extent of Freddy’s Gyre is not yet known.

Regardless of Freddy’s winds, heavy rains, flash floods and dangerous landslides are possible in the hills or mountains of parts of Madagascar and southern Africa.

Damaging winds and storm surge flooding are also major concerns, especially as Freddy moves into eastern Madagascar.

This comes less than a month after Cyclone Cheneso wreaked havoc in Madagascar, killing at least 33 people.

On February 6, Freddy formed off the southern coast of Indonesia. According to NOAA’s Best Tracks database, only one Category 1 intensity cyclone has been tracked in the southern Indian Ocean from near Indonesia to Madagascar.

Hurricane Erin/Leon struck in February 2000.

The cyclone made landfall on Madagascar as a Category 1 storm before quickly intensifying to a Category 4 intensity before making landfall in central Mozambique.

It continued into Zimbabwe before splitting into northern Botswana and Namibia, forming an unusually long inland track across southern Africa.

In February 2000, the storm combined with a tropical depression earlier that month to cause devastating flooding in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.

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