Nsanje floods left hundreds destitute

Hundreds of people in Nsanje district have been rendered homeless after the Ruo River burst its banks and flooded an area that connects seven villages in the area of TA Mlolo.

However, authorities are yet to come up with an actual number of people and houses that have been affected as an assessment exercise is still underway.

The District Commissioner Rodney Simwaka confirmed the development saying in the incident some people have also had their crops washed away by the floods after unusually heavy rains hit the area.

Some of the affected villages include Makhapa, Khambadzi, Kalonga, Sambani, Osiyana and Chipondeni.

“This is a perennial problem, every time there are heavy rains this river bursts,” said Simwaka, adding that so far there were no reported injuries.

Meanwhile, officials from the district’s Department of Disaster Preparedness and Relief Management are assessing the extent of the damage to come up with statistics.

A villager from Group Village Headman Makhapa Benito Bitilinyo said he had lost his crops and all his property had been destroyed by the floods.

“We have lost all our property, in fact we are left with empty hands. Everything in the house is flooded,” he moaned.

Eye witnesses say the floods seem to have caught many villagers by surprise and officials have warned of another possible devastation and have appealed to the people to vacate the area.

The displaced people are faced with challenges of sanitation facilities and use untreated water from open spaces, a situation that is putting their health at risk again.

Elsewhere

On Saturday, over 21 families in Kasungu district were also left destitute after heavy rainstorm destroyed their houses.

And two weeks ago, a two-year-old girl died in Rumphi district while an old woman had had both legs and an arm broken and admitted to hospital after hailstorm hit the area.

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