Dhe desperate cries of a child can be heard until shortly before the end of the video. An already damaged simple house can be seen, surrounded by torrential water masses. Then the side walls give way. Before the eyes of the observers, the house disappears, the floodwaters carry away the roof, and the child can no longer be heard. A rescue attempt was too dangerous, comments Pastor Petros Mwale from Malawi, who published the video on Twitter.
Cyclone Freddy wreaked havoc in southern Malawi and caused severe devastation. The mud and water masses destroyed houses and villages, bridges were washed away. The economic metropolis of Blantyre, with a population of around one million, is also affected. A Red Cross spokesman told the AFP news agency that some residents had tried to climb trees and roofs to get to safety. According to President Lazarus Chakwera, more than 200 deaths have been reported and more than 83,000 people have lost their homes. “Malawi’s dark hour,” wrote The Daily Times. The government announced a 14-day period of national mourning.
Cyclone Freddy had already reached Madagascar on February 21 and three days later the coast of Mozambique. At that time, Malawi was still largely spared. But then the storm surprisingly made a loop and returned to the African mainland last weekend with even greater force. First it swept over Mozambique, then it got to Malawi. Unofficially, it is considered the longest tropical storm in history. There was also severe devastation in Mozambique and Madagascar.
The crops are destroyed
The consequences in Malawi can hardly be estimated. The country and its inhabitants would be thrown back years in development, says Claudia Plock, Welthungerhilfe program manager. The storm had arrived in the “lean time” before the harvest, when many families struggled to get by and waited for the harvest. The floods have now destroyed entire crops in many places. Cholera has also been rampant in Malawi since March last year. The World Health Organization speaks of the most violent outbreak in the history of the country. More than 1,200 people have died from the disease.
The people not only needed a roof over their heads, blankets, cooking pots, clean drinking water and sanitary facilities, but also food and seeds, the aid organization said. More than seven million people in Malawi are not adequately nourished, and almost 40 percent of children under the age of five are malnourished.
Raw materials play almost no role in Malawi, the country depends primarily on international aid and remittances from citizens who work in South Africa, for example, as gardeners or domestic help. Agriculture is the country’s most important industry, with tea and tobacco being exported. For the most part, however, these are small farmers who, due to a lack of high-quality seed and fertilizer, only generate low income. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, they have also been hit by the global shortage of fertilizers and rising prices.
Malawian President Chakwera visited the affected regions and injured people in hospitals on Wednesday and Thursday and attended a funeral for numerous victims. He appealed to the international community to help deal with a “national tragedy”. The extent of the devastation exceeds the “resources available to us”. It is already the third hurricane within 13 months and further proof of the reality of climate change. The Malawian government announced disaster relief equivalent to 1.4 million euros.
As can be heard from the regions, the anger is growing among the volunteers there because government aid has not been forthcoming so far. The cyclone has weakened since mid-week, but large parts of the region remain flooded.