Storm kills three more
Three more people have died due to heavy rains and floods induced by Tropical Storm Gombe, which hit parts of Eastern and Southern regions at the weekend, raising the death toll to seven.
Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) commissioner Charles Kalemba on Monday said preliminary reports indicate that the deaths were reported in Machinga and Mangochi districts on Sunday.
He said among those that died include a three-member family which got swept away by a flooded river they attempted to cross in Traditional Authority (T/A) Liwonde in Machinga.
The three were a 49-year-old woman, her 32-year-old daughter and two-year-old grandson.
In Machinga, a 78-year-old man died after a wall collapsed on him in Paramount Chief Kawinga’s area due to heavy rains while in Mangochi, a 28-year-old man died after being washed away by a flooded river he attempted to cross in T/A Chowe’s area.
Limbe Police Station spokesperson Patrick Mussa on Monday also confirmed of one death that occurred in Machinjiri Township in Blantyre where electricity wires that fell due to heavy rains electrocuted a 28-year-old man.
Kalemba said Dodma has received a number of preliminary reports from district councils detailing damages Tropical Cyclone Gombe-induced heavy rains and floods have caused.
“Affected district councils are conducting assessments to establish extent of damage,” he said.
But Kalemba said the Chikwawa-Nsanje Road has been cut off at Bereu and Sekeni in Chikwawa District due to flooding, making Nsanje District inaccessible by road.
He also advised motorists travelling to Mulanje to avoid using the Mulanje-Midima Road as it will likely become impassable due to heavy rains. Motorists have since been advised to use the Limbe-Thyolo-Mulanje Road instead.
A preliminary report from Mulanje District Council on Monday erday also showed that flash floods affected most parts of group village head Namasalima in T/A Njema which borders Mozambique at Muloza Trading Centre where Malawi Revenue Authority offices and a police station were submerged.
In Phalombe, a camp that was hosting people affected by Tropical Storm Ana has also been affected, rendering people destitute.
Dodma has since deployed a search and rescue team comprising the Malawi Defence Force and Malawi Police Service to Phalombe and Mulanje districts.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Water and Sanitation Principal Secretary Joseph Magwira on Monday warned that rivers in the Ruo, Shire and Lake Chilwa catchment areas will continue experiencing high water levels up to today; hence, a possibility of flooding.
MET has since warned in a statement that increase in rainfall is expected again over the country tomorrow which may renew the floods.
Tropical Storm Gombe comes barely two months after another cyclone, Tropical Storm Ana, caused havoc in the Shire Valley where flood waters killed 46. In total, Tropical Storm Ana affected 995 072 people and 221 127 households.
