Tropical Cyclone Freddy Leaves 326 Dead, 183,159 Displaced in Malawi

Malawi-The death toll from Tropical Cyclone Freddy (TCF) in Malawi has reached 326, with 796 people injured and 201 reported missing, according to the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), writes Winston Mwale.

DoDMA has received rapid assessment reports from 14 affected councils, which show that TCF-induced flooding, strong winds, and mudslides have displaced 40,702 households, approximately 183,159 people, with 317 camps set up to accommodate the displaced.

Search and rescue operations led by the Malawi Defence Force, the Malawi Police Service, the Department of Marine, the Malawi Red Cross Society, and communities are still ongoing, while relief assistance is being provided to affected and displaced households.

The department has mobilized a national interagency assessment team to support affected councils in establishing the total number of affected people and their immediate needs. DoDMA is also liaising with foreign missions, governments, and international organizations for support following the declaration of a state of disaster by President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera.

Meanwhile, the department, humanitarian partners, and councils continue to facilitate the provision of relief assistance to affected and displaced households.

DoDMA has readily available relief items in strategic places and is working with humanitarian partners and affected councils to provide the items for use by displaced and affected communities.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Local Government, Richard Chimwendo Banda, has disclosed that the Government of Zambia, through its air force, has released a relief aid aircraft and a search and rescue MI8 aircraft to help rescue people in hard-to-reach areas in Mulanje, Phalombe, and Nsanje who are still trapped in water.