Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has approved 1.5 million U.S. dollars for Cyclone Freddy victims support and rescue operations as the death toll has reached 225, with 707 people injured and 41 people reportedly missing.

BLANTYRE, Malawi, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has approved 1.5 million U.S. dollars for Cyclone Freddy victims support and rescue operations as the death toll has reached 225, with 707 people injured and 41 people reportedly missing.

The president announced Wednesday evening in a televised national address in the country's commercial city of Blantyre after he had attended a funeral of 28 bodies in Chilobwe location, where most deaths have occurred in the city.

Chakwera said he had held an emergency cabinet meeting where the said amount was approved for rescue operations and support of the affected families in the districts where the cyclone hit the most.

"These resources are needed as a matter of emergency. The money will not be near enough as the level of devastation we're dealing with here is greater than the resources that we have at our disposal," Chakwera said.

The president said his government will continue to seek support from local and international communities to meet the required humanitarian support.

Chakwera has also declared 14 days of national mourning, adding that during the period, the country's flag should fly at half mast.

After visiting the affected areas, the president described the damage caused by Cyclone Freddy as "the worst in decades, and far worse than the images we've seen from a distance," and called on all Malawians to "put political differences aside."

In his third update Wednesday, Commissioner for the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), Charles Kalemba, said as of 11:00 a.m. local time, Cyclone Freddy had displaced at least 19,676 households (approximately 88,312 people) and killed 225 people.