Africa News
200,000 displaced by Malawi floods─── 05:17 Mon, 19 Jan 2015
Lilongwe - Around 200,000 people have been displaced by flood waters in Malawi as the country braces for more rains, humanitarian group the Gift of the Givers said on Sunday.
The organisation had delivered relief parcels to 500 families in the south of the country on Saturday, founder Imtiaz Sooliman said.
The parcels contained staple food, blankets, eating utensils, water purification tablets and plastic sheets.
"Our team will start again tomorrow morning to target the most distressed areas.
"...We will be targeting distribution in Phalombe, District of Mulanje as we already have had requests from Members of Parliament and the Minister of Foreign Affairs in that area."
There were fears that the situation could be exacerbated with the arrival of tropical Cyclone Chedza, expected to hit Malawi on Sunday.
According to the meteorological department, the rain could last another two weeks.
Sooliman said there were heavy rains over Blantyre, the second largest city of Malawi, on Saturday night followed by more showers on Sunday morning.
Thirty-two thousand hectares of land were flooded, with 116,000 farmers affected.
"We have water rescue teams with our own equipment and boats on standby, ready to fly them in at short notice if Malawi Disaster Management confirms a need. Medical teams are also on standby."
On Saturday Sooliman said 15 of the 28 national districts had been declared disaster zones.
There were also concerns of a cholera outbreak and other water-borne diseases as there was no clean drinking water, and the sewerage was contaminated.
Sapa
