Editor’s Note: Cyclone Freddy formed on Feb. 5 in the Australian Region Cyclone Basin, moved into the South-West Indian Ocean Basin, traveled almost 5,000 miles, and unleashed winds up to 165 miles per hour before dissipating on March 14.
Freddy was the longest-lasting tropical cyclone ever recorded. It pummeled Malawi, where the president declared a state of emergency.
Ngonidzashe Nyambawaro was one of the early responders for the RCCE Collective Service, a grantee of The Rockefeller Foundation focused on community engagement and communication during a public health crisis.
The Collective Service provides coordinated risk communications and community engagement intelligence and support to governments and partners involved in national and local responses to Covid-19, and other public health emergencies. The Collective Service is a collaborative partnership between IFRC, UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), Global outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), and key stakeholders from the public health and humanitarian sectors.
Here, in a five-part series, is a report of his two weeks in the field.
Read the Series:
![Flooding in Nsanje, Malawi, March 2023 (Photo Courtesy of the Malawi Red Cross Society)](https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Part-I-Flooding-in-Nsanje-Malawi-March-2023-Photo-Courtesy-of-the-Malawi-Red-Cross-Society-700x525.jpg)
Superlatives are necessary when talking about Freddy, the longest-lasting tropical cyclone ever recorded anywhere in the world.
![](https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Part-2-Flooding-victims-Photo-courtesy-of-World-Renew-700x346.jpeg)
From Lilongwe, I travel five hours by road to Malawi’s commercial hub, Blantyre, which was battered by the intense winds and rain that accompanied Freddy and caused catastrophic flash floods.
![](https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Part-3-Life-is-Not-Returning-to-Normal-e1683649227802-700x446.jpeg)
The coordination meetings are underway. Those of us who have never met before are getting to know one another even as we assess the situation here in Malawi.
![](https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Part-4-1-700x490.png)
Over the last several days, I have traveled out of Blantyre to five communities in the Shire River Valley – Zomba, Chikwawa, Nsanje, Mulanje, and Phalombe.
![](https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Part-5-700x449.jpeg)
Today was one of the best days of my mission. I held a one-day training with 18 local community-based organizations—the real foot soldiers—around community feedback mechanisms.
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