Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) says 20 people have died from disaster-related accidents since the onset of the rainy season.
Dodma commissioner Wilson Moleni said this in an interview on Saturday after five bodies were recovered in Nkhotakota on Friday,.
He said the disasters, mainly stormy rains, strong winds and flash floods have affected 18 267 households, an equivalent of 82 201 people based on the standard formula of five people per household.
Moleni said 92 people have sustained injuries in the areas where the disaster has occurred.
He said: “In Nkhotakota, which is among the worst affected districts, we have confirmed that five dead bodies were recovered after being washed away by flood waters.
“Due to road network challenges, we have empowered local councils to procure some relief items locally due to the severity of the situation, as they wait for damaged roads to be repaired and allow vehicles access to the affected areas. This will continue until roads are accessible.”
Moleni said the commission is still responding to disasters and helping victims across the country through operations carried by Dodma alongside partners such as Malawi Defence Force, Malawi Police Service and local community members.
Meanwhile, the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services said the threat that heavy rains posed this week is slowly weakening.
The department’s director Lucy Mtilatila said in an interview on Thursday that from Friday to today most areas will no longer experience intense rainfall.
To date, 18 councils have been affected by the disasters, namely Salima, Mulanje, Lilongwe, Dedza, Dowa, Chikwawa, Mulanje, Blantyre, Nsanje, Lilongwe, Karonga, Chitipa, Chiradzulu, Nkhata Bay, Kasungu, Nkhotakota, Zomba City and Likoma.
