Floods displace 45 000 people in Malawi

About 45 000 people were displaced by hailstorms and floods across the country as of on Friday morning with Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma)warning the situation was likely to worsen into a national calamity.

As of midday yesterday, disaster management experts and Malawi Defence Force (MDF) officers had rushed to the Shire Valley to evacuate people after noticing rising water levels in Shire River.

Meanwhile, the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services has also painted a gloomy picture on the situation by predicting that heavy rains will persist in many parts of the country.

Commissioner for Dodma Paul Chiunguzeni said in an interview yesterday that hailstorms hit 14 districts, displacing 7 500 households (translating to about 45 000 people given that an average household in Malawi has six members) while flush floods affected Mangochi, Ntcheu, Balaka and Zomba.

—Six dead in flash floods—

He said the situation was worsening because the heavy rains were not relenting.

“We have just received reports that the water levels in Ruo are rising. This means the levels in Shire River will also go up, resulting in floods in the Shire Valley. Teams have already been dispatched there to try to evacuate people,” Chiunguzeni said.

While press reports on Thursday indicated that floods had killed six people in the Southern Region, Chiunguzeni could not say how many people had so far died, saying the situation is “very fluid and the figures are changing all the time”.

“At the moment I may give you wrong figures because information is changing very fast,” he said while travelling from Karonga where, he said, he went to attend to another case of natural disaster.

In Zomba, a woman was washed away by swelling Likangala River on Thursday, according to district commissioner (DC) Bennet Nkasala, who identified the deceased as Evelyn Elivala from Chikho Village, T/A Tsabango in Lilongwe.

Nkasala said Likangala and other rivers in the district flooded following an incessant downpour since Monday, displacing people and destroying their property in Chingale and the areas of chief Mpondabwino, Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwambo.

He said his office was assessing the extent of the damage.

The DC said government and non-governmental organisations were already moving in to offer relief items to victims.

In Nsanje, floods from Ruo and Thangazi rivers have affected several villages, submerging houses and forcing villagers to escape to higher lands, according to DC Harry Phiri.

—Help needed—

Phiri said in an interview Friday his office was assessing the number of people affected and the kind of assistance they would require.

He said Malawi Red Cross Society, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders), Goal Malawi and Malawi Defence Force (MDF) were already on the ground to assist the victims.

He said no death had so far been reported in the district.

“Houses in Traditional Authority Mlolo in the East Bank have been severely affected as water is everywhere.

“Crops have been washed away, but we have not received any report of livestock being washed away,”Phiri said.

He said his office got a report that in one village, people were using a canoe to evacuate victims to higher grounds as MDF soldiers, who are forming part of the rescue mission, were moving in to take control of the situation.

—Lower Shire floods—

Chikwawa DC Alex Doka said on Friday he could only offer an interview later in the day as he was working with MDF personnel to identify areas where to erect tents for the flood victims.

But assistant district disaster relief management officer Francis Kadzokoya said about 900 households had been affected, adding that the figure was likely to go up as they were still assessing the situation.

Lilongwe district commissioner, Charles Kalemba said over 65 households were affected by stormy rains which fell in December .

“Together with the Department of Disaster Management Affairs and Red Cross, we visited the area and assisted the people affected with clothing, food items and tents,” he said.

So far, no disaster has been reported in a great part of the Northern Region. Not even in Nkhata Bay where Limphasa overflowed and destroyed about 200 houses last year.

But travelling to the disaster-prone district of Karonga, still pools of water and trails of run-offs were spotted in maize fields in Lupembe—a spate locals suspect to be a sign that floods are around the corner.

However, Karonga DC Rosemery Moyo said all is well in terms of floods in the district which had a turbulent entry into this year following an earthquake on December 31, although the district’s disaster officer Walusungu Mwafuliwa said the likelihood of floods is high in Karonga due to the ongoing heavy rains.

“We have started stocking relief items in our warehouse in anticipation of the floods. We don’t want to be taken unawares,” he said.

—Budget exhusted—

This year, the National Disaster Fund was allocated K150 million, which Chikunkhuzeni said was not adequate to cope with the magnitude of the problem.

He said his management team was yesterday locked up in a meeting in Lilongwe to revise its budget upwards.

“We may have to request for an additional K150 million from Treasury. We will see the final figures when we compile all the statistics,” said Chiunguzeni.

Treasury spokesperson said in a separate interview that there are two budgetary lines from where the resources will be drawn to respond to “slight” emergencies.

“These are the National Disaster Fund and the Unforeseen Circumstances budget lines. So when the requisition comes from the Department of Disaster Management, resources will be available,” said Msowoya.

He, however, said that should the situation be dire to require a comprehensive government response, Treasury and Dodma will have to meet to look at where extra resources would come from.

“It is at this point that we may have to seek extra assistance including from foreign partners,” said Msowoya.

Meanwhile, the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services’ forecast indicates that the Southern Region will experience a reduction of rains from Monday to Saturday.

“But the rest of the country will have heavy rains,” said director for Climate Change, Elina Kululanga.