About 2 000 people have lost their homes in floods that have hit central Malawi after storms in the south, a government official said on Thursday.
The homeless have taken shelter in churches, mosques and schools,
The latest flooding came just a few days after heavy rains in the south left 6 000 homeless, destroyed crops and washed away bridges and roads.
”Heavy rains fell for several hours on Tuesday night, making a number of rivers burst their banks,” said Hebert Manthalu, the disaster-management officer for the district of Salima, located about 100km east of the capital, Lilongwe.
About 400 families have been displaced and about 130 houses destroyed. Flood victims are sheltering in churches, mosques and schools, Manthalu said.
Livestock and about 50ha of maize were lost in the flooding from swollen rivers, including the Linthipe, which flows into Lake Malawi, Africa’s third-largest freshwater lake.
The Salima district is one of the hardest-hit districts in Malawi by food shortages.
A heavy downpour at the weekend left 6 000 homeless in the southern Mangochi region, cutting off access to Monkey Bay, Malawi’s best-known resort. — Sapa-AFP