The death toll in the aftermath of Cyclone Chido, which hit Malawi on Sunday, has reached 13 from seven that Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) reported on Tuesday.
Dodma said in an update yesterday that 227 people have been displaced while the number of injured persons has also increased from 16 to 29.
The statement, signed by Dodma Commissioner Charles Kalemba, said the number of affected households has risen from 7 721 to 10 159.
In an interview yesterday, Kalemba clarified that the figures reported on Monday and Tuesday were preliminary while yesterday’s report was the final one.
“It means we have collected all the information that we needed to collect from councils,” he said.
Kalemba said Dodma has not opened evacuation camps for the displaced people since they are staying with their relatives in their villages.
On humanitarian assistance, he said the needs are within Dodma’s contingency plan and delivery of relief items in Southern Region districts was expected to be completed yesterday while Central Region districts will receive items today.
Cyclone Chido caused damage to health facilities, school blocks and houses in 20 councils, including Dedza, Lilongwe, Mangochi, Machinga, Blantyre, Salima, Neno and Chikwawa.
Machinga District Council spokesperson Martin Chiwanda said in an interview yesterday that the district has recorded two deaths and five injuries with 557 households affected.
“The people have received psychosocial support, but we are yet to provide them with food and other relief items as we are still mobilising the resources,” he said.
In a separate interview, Blantyre District Council disaster risk management officer Faith Khamula said the council has already started distributing a 50 kilogramme bag of maize to each of the affected 502 households in the district.
Cyclone Chido entered Malawi around midnight of Sunday, 15th December 2024, bringing strong winds and rains.
The cyclone exited the country into Mozambique through Neno District on Monday and has no further impact on Malawi weather.
