Malawi: Death Toll In Central Region Floods Reaches Six.

By Joseph Dumbula

The number of casualties following flooding in Malawi’s central region district of Nkhotakota has reached six, reminiscing bad memories of Cyclone Freddy which the nation a year ago.

This is according to the latest figures from the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA).

The disaster has affected a total of 14,176 people out of which 9,378 have been displaced and are living in evacuation camps.

The report states that those camps include 1,638 under-five children, 287 pregnant women, 305 lactating mothers, 46 people with disabilities and 82 elderly persons.

DoDMA has further revealed that by gender, 7,189 are males and 6,987 females.

“The search and rescue (SAR) team led by the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) continues to undertake their selfless operations. With assistance and commitment of a local SAR team largely comprising fishermen, the team has located, rescued and evacuated 1,100 people who were trapped in various areas.

“Relief items are needed in large quantities and the department calls upon companies, organizations, humanitarian partners and individuals of goodwill to lend a helping hand,” reads part of DoDMA’s statement.

Persistent rains continued to cause further damage to roads and bridges in the week and according to DoDMA, the delivery of essential services to those impacted is highly affected.

Malawi has yet to recover from effects of Cyclone Freddy which hit mostly the southern region of the country subsequently affecting over 2 million people and displaced over half a million as it washed away homes, roads and other infrastructure.

Over a thousand deaths were recorded, during a time in which the nation was brought on its knees with grief.