Death toll from Cyclone Freddy in Malawi jumps to 1,000

The death toll from Cyclone Freddy in Malawi has risen to 1,000, with more than half a million displaced, President Lazarus Chakwera said on Wednesday.

"This devastating climate-change event has killed over 1,000 people, displaced over half a million, and affected over two million through the washing away of homes, roads, bridges, crops, markets, schools, clothes, businesses, and power lines," said Chakwera.

Opening the tobacco marketing season in Malawi, a landlocked country in southeastern Africa, Chakwera said the economic situation no longer remains the same because of the impact of Cyclone Freddy.

He appealed to Malawians to work together as the country recovers from the impact of the disaster which has damaged 405 kilometers (252 miles) of road infrastructure, 63 health facilities, and 500 schools.

Freddy struck Mozambique and Malawi earlier in March for the second time in a month, destroying scores of homes and triggering widespread floods.

Seventy-six deaths were recorded in neighboring Mozambique, where more than 33,000 houses were destroyed.