from MAVHUTO BANDA in Lilongwe, Malawi
Malawi Bureau
LILONGWE, (CAJ News) – HUMANITARIAN organisations are making frantic efforts to support thousands of people recovering from multiple cyclones that have recently torn Southern Africa.
Cyclone Batsirai and Tropical Storm Ana have rocked the region.
Tropical Cyclone Dumako is looming. It formed over the Indian Ocean last weekend.
Ana alone affected over 180 000 people.
It killed at least 38 people in Mozambique where it flooded thousands of hectares of land and causing landslides.
In Malawi, 37 people have been reported dead, 22 missing and 158 injured.
Over 193 558 households (or 948 434 people) are affected, and 740 hectares of crops have been destroyed.
Batsirai has left at least 121 people dead in Madagascar. More than 29 000 people remain displaced.
Oxfam lamented that increased frequency of tropical storms and other climatic shocks in Southern Africa means 88 million people across this region, are already extremely poor.
This is also a result of inequality and two years of COVID-19.
“They have little resilience left and their capacity to bounce back is severely constrained,” Dailes Judge, Oxfam Southern Africa director, said.
Five tropical storms have hit Southern Africa, killing 780 people and leaving nearly 5 million people extremely vulnerable for the past three years.
On several occasions, the storms have been followed by dry spells and drought.
These are perfect breeding conditions for pests such as fall army worms that have decimated many thousands of hectares of crops.
Oxfam and its partners are currently helping victims in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
They are distributing cash, food, water and sanitation.
– CAJ News