Heavy storms, weird winds and floods have ravaged houses, shops and crops worth millions of kwacha particularly across Malawi.
Among the major districts affected include Mulanje, Neno, Machinga,
Zomba, Balaka and Phalombe in the south, Ntcheu, Salima, Lilongwe, Dowa
and Nkhotakota in central region while Karonga and Nkhatabay are the
most affected in the north.
A report from the Department of Disaster Preparedness says Mulanje
district tops the list of casualties where about 700 houses had their
roofs blown off by winds and in some cases collapsed.
Lilongwe in the central region comes second with close to 650 families and various household items destroyed. Â
The report further says people of Dowa district were mainly affected
for losing their crops like tobacco and maize. About 259 hectares of
crop yields were destroyed in the district.
Meanwhile, government through the Department of Disaster Preparedness
has districted over 1600 metric tonnes of relief food to over 5000
affected households across the country.
Secretary for Department of Disaster Preparedness Lilian Ng'oma said
government was still distributing some relief items to some areas
across the country.
The exercise is still going but the work has lessen as was the case
some few weeks ago. We will continue until every Malawian affected by
these natural disasters has gotten some help, she said.
During these catastrophes, a number of well-wishers have been coming
forward for assistance. One of them is Mark Katsonga Phiri who is
acting president of the Peoples Progressive Movement (PPM) and Member
of Parliament for Neno who donated over K200 000 and other items after
his area was affected.
Katsonga, who also owns AXA Coach Services, a subsidiary company of
AGMA Group of Companies, was also the first person to cheer the traders
of Ndirande market in October last year when a fierce fire gutted down
the entire market. He donated to them K2 million. – Nyasa Times