About 1 900 families have been affected by disasters that have killed about five people in 10 days across the country.

The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) statement issued yesterday, signed by commissioner for disaster management affairs Charles Kalemba, indicates that as of yesterday, the cumulative number of families that have been affected by disasters has gone up to about 20 900 from about 19 000 recorded on February 2 2023.

The statement further states that the cumulative number of people injured due to disasters has also gone up from 176 to 185 while the death toll has also risen from 57 to 62 as of February 2 2023.

A house damaged by floods in Machinjiri on Sunday

“Cumulatively, 20 948 households (approximately 94 266 people), have been affected.

“Of the total number of affected households, 11 545 are male-headed whereas 9 403 are female-headed,” reads the statement in part.

The department also indicates that it has received preliminary reports on heavy rains that fell in some parts of the Southern Region mainly in Blantyre and Chiradzulu on Sunday, which show that four people have died while four others are missing.

Ac cor d ing to the statement, in Blantyre City, one man aged between 17 and 20, has died while two others are missing following the heavy rains and flash floods that have affected about 37 families in Machinjiri Township.

“In Traditional Authority Lundu, Blantyre District, a search and rescue team has rescued two children who were feared dead after being trapped in flooded water.

“In Chiradzulu, a search and rescue team has recovered three female dead bodies. The three were among five women feared dead after they tried to cross a flooded river. The team is still searching for the two missing persons,” adds the statement.

In an interview yesterday, Dodma spokesperson Chipiliro Khamula said Blantyre City Council, as well as Blantyre and Chiradzulu district councils are still conducting assessments to establish the extent of damage following Sunday disasters.

The heavy rains that led to flash floods and strong winds that occurred over the weekend also affected electricity supply as the country experienced a national power outage on Sunday.

Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) yesterday told local media that the heavy rains led to excessive trash at Nkula and Tedzani power stations leading to national power blackout.

In a statement issued yesterday, Egenco indicates that by noon, it had concluded removing the trash at the power stations and that the company was working to bring all the machines back to normal.

Reads the Egenco statement is part: “As at 12h00, all machines at Nkula Power Station were back online except for two machines at Nkula B. Similarly, at Tedzani Power Station all machines, except one machine at Tedzani I & II, were back online. Work to restore the remaining machines is in progress.” As of yesterday, 28 councils had been affected by disasters mainly stormy rains, floods, strong winds, heavy rains, hailstorms and lightning.

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