Stormy weather kills 5, damages 450 households in Malawi

At least five persons have died in Malawi due to adverse weather, which included strong winds, stormy rains, lightning and hailstorms, in different parts of the country, an official said.

A spokesman for the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), Chipiliro Khamula, said on Monday that preliminary reports indicated that 450 households in 11 districts across the country have been affected.

The country has recorded two deaths in the western border district of Mchinji due to the collapsing of house walls.

Three deaths were also recorded in the lakeshore district of Nkhotakota in the central region due to lightning strikes, according to Khamula.

He added that 10 people, including a 2.5-year-old child, have been injured in three districts of Mchinji, Nkhotakota and Neno.

“The department has started dispatching food and non-food relief items (which include maize, kitchen utensils, housing units, plastic sheets for temporary roofing) to affected councils,” Khamula said.

Meanwhile, DoDMA has prepositioned most of the relief items in disaster-prone areas for timely and effective response, ahead of the rainy season.

DoDMA has also established a humanitarian staging area in the disaster-prone district of Nsanje to enhance coordination in managing disasters in the Lower Shire Valley prone to floods almost every year.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is providing financial and technical support for this operations. (Xinhua)