Malawi’s president, Lazarus Chakwera, has pleaded with the world to send immediate aid to the country in southern Africa, which has been devastated by storms that have killed more than 300 people and forced hundreds of thousands more from their homes.
On Thursday, he declared, “We need quick support,” standing outside a camp in Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial center and one of the hardest impacted places. Now that the storms have abated a bit, we need helicopters to airlift some supplies of food and other supplies.
During the weekend, Tropical Storm Freddy struck the southern African coast once more, devastating Malawi and its neighbor Mozambique. Since February, there have been more than 400 fatalities recorded in the region, with at least 326 of the deaths occurring in Malawi.
Chakwera, who proclaimed 14 days of mourning and offered $1.5 million in aid, is now pleading for greater assistance, claiming that the nation’s ability to deliver relief is constrained.
The president declared, “Climate change is real, and we are witnessing disaster. “Three devastating cyclones in thirteen months. We are making every effort to “lift ourselves up by our bootstraps.”
Stronger storms are being fueled by thermal energy from the water’s surface as ocean temperatures rise due to climate change. Freddy broke the record for the greatest cyclone energy ever accumulated, which is determined by the average wind speed of a storm over its entire existence. According to meteorologists, it might set two more records.
Without assistance from abroad, according to Chakwera, such a storm cannot be recovered from. He declared, “Anyone, everywhere, can experience what is occurring to us. “Let the world enter and assist Malawi because we cannot afford to be moving backwards rather than forward in terms of all the necessities that Malawians require.”
The lack of clean water, which might lead to a cholera outbreak similar to the one that followed Cyclone Anna in the country’s south last year, is the most urgent problem, according to Rasmane Kabore, the emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Blantyre.
Chakwera agreed in his interview, urging the supply of shelter, blankets, and amenities that will aid in the distribution of water and sanitation to the populace since we do not want another epidemic of waterborne diseases.
Mulanje West representative Yusuf Nthenda stated earlier on Thursday that the community had not yet received any assistance and that some of his residents were going hungry.
The president replied that although his government has started to assist, certain villages were inaccessible due to mudslide-damaged roadways.
But he added that “let everyone be accounted for” was his aim and wish.
