Disaster as heavy rains submerge Chintheche
Heavy rains that continue to fall in Chintheche, Nkhata Bay and some parts of the Northern Region had destroyed houses and washed away crop fields this week.
During a visit yesterday, it emerged that the rains have also turned some tombstones upside down and increased Lake Malawi water levels, posing a serious threat to residents and resort businesses along the shore.
From last Thursday, the rains kept increasing in intensity and poured incessantly until Monday, triggering run-off water that blocked drainage systems at Chintheche Community Hospital and sipped through the hospital corridors.
But in an interview yesterday, the hospital’s in-charge GrysonKumwenda played down the severity of the problem, saying contrary to social media reports service delivery was not disrupted as they managed mopped the water by 11am Friday.
He said: “The hospital was built on an uphill, so obviously the water did not originate from the lake as it was alleged by some.
“It was running water from the rains that found its way in one section of our facility. We dealt with it within an hour.”
However, a stone’s throw from the hospital’s premises; a house collapsed and posed a threat to the life of a two-year-old.
The child’s mother Dorah Banda, 33, of Gulu Village, Traditional Authority Malanda said she whisked away the baby as the house fell on one side.
The familyof eight is now accommodated in a neighbour’s house.
Close to Luweya Bridge, flood waters have washed away land, property and a graveyard.
Jonathan Banda, a resident of the area said more than 200 metres of land is under water.
“It’s unprecedented. The water line was very far away, over 200 metres away, but now the lake has invaded our land,” he said.
Group village head Gulu of Chintheche expressed concern with the rising water levels which she said was “eating away land and destroying people’s property and crops”.
