The Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (MET) says poverty is one of the major hindrances to building resilience, especially in rural communities amid emergence of tropical storms.

The emergence of tropical storms on the Indian Ocean have in recent years been influencing the country’s weather which in most situations has led to flooding and strong winds, among others, affecting thousands of Malawians.

In a telephone interview yesterday, MET acting director Lucy Mtilatila said while some communities are proactive to early warning system messages, they do not have capacity for them to act.

A woman sits in the open after her house was destroyed by Tropical Storm Ana in Chikwawa

She said in both urban and rural set-ups, there is need for structures to be built strong enough to withhold pressure that comes with effects of storms that have a direct bearing on the country’s weather.

Mtilatila said: “We need to revisit how we design our structures which include roads, houses and any other infrastructure. Otherwise we will find that each and every year we are rebuilding.”

While stressing that informal settlements have also contributed to the impact of tropical storms’ effects, she described as a rare situation that Malawi is expected to be affected by more than two tropical storms this year.

The three include Tropical Storm Ana, Tropical Storm Dumako and Tropical Storm Gombe.

Tropical Storm Gombe is expected to enhance rainfall over Malawi from Friday while Tropical Storm Ana and Dumako affected parts of the Central and Southern Regions in January and February.

Mtilatila said while there are expectations that a new tropical storm might emerge after Tropical Storm Gombe, there are nine tropical storms on average that occur yearly on the Indian Ocean, some of which do not affect Malawi.

In a separate interview, Civil Society Network on Climate Change chairperson Julius Ng’oma said more needs to be done in preparation of such extreme weather.

“What is very critical is to make sure that we advance the issue of preparedness, risk reduction and risk management as a country.

“This will actually help us to have communities that are more resilient and they should be able to quickly bounce back from any other eventualities that may happen as a result of tropical storms,” said Ng’oma.

Ng’oma said it is therefore important that government enacts the Disaster Risk Management Bill which, among others, provides for financing that can help communities be well prepared and decentralisation that councils can be prepared for any kind of disasters.

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