US sees cyclone impact lasting long
United States of America Ambassador David Young says the devastation Tropical Cyclone Freddy has caused will have a long-term impact on Malawi.
Speaking yesterday in Blantyre after touring the Department of Disaster and Management Affairs (Dodma) and World Food Programme command centre in Limbe, he asked development partners to support Malawi in implementing its recovery plan.
Young said the United States has committed $4.3 million (about K4.3 billion) in assistance towards Cyclone Freddy relief reponse.
He said: “This includes food assistance, water and sanitation, health and we are also working with the WFP to provide a helicopter to help get supplies into remote areas.
“It’s critically important that we recognise that this is a long-term battle. We need to keep up the commitment, to do what we can to help the people.”
The ambassador said the affected people in Southern Malawi need assistance to recover their livelihoods and residences while the country needs resources to rebuild its damaged infrastructure to prevent a surge of health challenges such as malaria and cholera.
He commended individuals and organisations for their support towards the government of Malawi and the people affected in the disaster.
Dodma director responsible for disaster recovery and reliance Peter Chimangeni said on Tuesday they started conducting rapid assessment to determine critical needs of the people.
He said Dodma will conduct a post-disaster needs assessment to inform the country and institutions about what is required to bring back the losses incurred in the disaster.
“The rapid assessment is expected to be completed on Friday,” Chimangeni said, further explaining that plans are underway to move all the displaced people from schools by April 17 when the next term starts.
World Food Programme (WFP) deputy country director Simon Denhere hailed the coordination between all partners in responding to the disaster.
He said the assessments by Dodma will help provide all the information needed, including the scale of damage.
As of Tuesday, Malawi had recorded 507 deaths, 1 332 injuries with 537 people missing.
The number of the displaced stood at 553 614 with 543 camps set to accommodate them.
