Malawi government calls for international support for flood victims

LILONGWE, Malawi

The Malawi government called on Wednesday for international support to alleviate the suffering of flood victims as the Southeast African nation continues to receive torrential rains.

The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) records that at least 40 people have died across the country, and thousands of others have been displaced and rendered homeless. The flooding also caused massive damage to infrastructure, including roads, which have cut off from the country.

Wilson Moleni, Commissioner for DoDMA told reporters that the “nation is heavily bleeding following this calamity that’s befallen upon us.”

“As a nation, we are overwhelmed by the rising daily needs of the affected people. Our economy is already overburdened. We can’t manage this situation on our own. We therefore appeal to our development partners to come to our rescue so that they can complement to our efforts,” said Moleni.

While acknowledging the amount of support already channeled to the country, Moleni said, “Because of the continued incessant rains, the numbers of flood victims continue to rise, thereby raising the needs of the affected people.”

The flooding comes at a time when the country is going through a critical food shortage caused by El Nino-induced weather phenomenon, which has left more than 4.5 million people in need of food aid.

In October last year, President Arthur Peter Mutharika declared all 28 districts of the country a state of disaster and appealed for humanitarian support to address the situation.

In 2023, Cyclone Freddy hit the country, killing at least 1000 people and displacing about 2,5m others. About 500 people are still missing.

Three years down the line, the country is still struggling to economically recover from the devastating effects of the cyclone.