The storm, which lasted for a month, had already broken one record and could break two more, according to meteorologists. Climate change is causing warmer oceans, and this heat energy from the water’s surface is fueling stronger storms.

The official death toll stands at 190 in Malawi with hundreds more injured and missing. In neighbouring Mozambique, the death toll is 20. Many of the victims died as a result of mudslides in hilly Blantyre, Malawi’s second-biggest city. Torrential rain swept away thousands of homes and uprooted trees, leaving residents staring in disbelief at huge ravines in the roads and having to clamber across makeshift bridges as the rain continued.

The damage and loss of life are still being assessed as search and rescue operations continue. Almost 60,000 people have been affected, of which about 19,000 were displaced from their homes, Malawi’s government said. The need for humanitarian aid is urgent as many people are without homes or basic needs such as food and water.

What makes this storm unusual is its path. Freddy developed off the coast of Australia, crossed the entire south Indian Ocean, and travelled more than 8,000km (4,970 miles) to make landfall in Madagascar and Mozambique in late February. It then looped back and hit the coast of Mozambique again two weeks later before moving inland to Malawi. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “no other tropical cyclones observed in this part of the world have taken such a path across the Indian Ocean in the past two decades.” The last time this happened was back in 2000.