Tropical Cyclone Freddy is likely to be Earth’s longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record, having formed on Feb. 6, Andrew writes.
- The storm traversed the entire width of the southern Indian Ocean in a rare straight east-to-west line, before making landfall in Madagascar and Mozambique.
Driving the news: Freddy will hit Mozambique for a rare second time on Thursday and Friday, with heavy rains spreading into Malawi as well. The storm first hit Madagascar as a Category 3 storm on Feb. 21 and came ashore in Mozambique on Feb. 24.
Zoom in: The World Meteorological Organization, a U.N. agency, has set up a committee to investigate whether Freddy has beaten Hurricane John, which lasted 31 days in 1994.
- The storm is already blamed for at least 21 deaths.