Salima devastated by hailstorm, 55 homes asunder

Most parts of Salima district have had houses destroyed with hailstorm  that hit the area this week rendering at least 55 households homeless.

Speaking when parliamentarian for the area, Jessie Kabwila, toured the area Group Village Headman Mwadyakale said the rains fell continuously for just about two hours on Tuesday with hailstorm.

“We were fortunate that the rains and hailstorm came during day hours, otherwise a lot of people could have lost their lives when the houses were falling down,” said Mwadyakale.

Kabwila who handed over relief items including bags of floor and plastic sheets, called on government to assist the affected households.

Floods have hit hard Malawi with commentators saying the country has not witnessed anything of the sort since 1964.

Over 174 000 people have been displaced and many more continue to be. The damage caused, analysts have said, will be felt for many months, even years to come.

Mahimbo Mdoe, the country manager at Unicef, told The Guardian Newspaper of the UK in January that basic social services have broken down in affected areas, while in the camps there are unconfirmed reports of rapes and other assaults.

Much as the southern region has been the most hit, the northern and central regions have equally been affected. –(Additional reporting by Pius Nyondo, Nyasa Times.)