I don't typically write on current news or events that have recently occurred, but this seemed like an event worth capturing. Malawi doesn't often receive much international news coverage, but this past week that was a different story. Last Sunday afternoon into Monday, tropical cyclone Freddy wreaked havoc on the southern region of Malawi, and in particular the country's second largest city and financial capital, Blantyre.
It all started back around February 6th off the northern coast of Australia before slowly making it's way across the Indian Ocean to Madagascar, and then to Mozambique before finally making landfall in southern Malawi this past week. In fact, the World Meteorological Organization declared cyclone Freddy to be the longest and among the strongest cyclones in history in the southern hemisphere. The interesting thing is that it seems like every year things keep getting worse. Just last year in January 2022, cyclone Ana hit southern Malawi. While it didn't take many lives, it devastated the infrastructure and power supply in the south that ended up trickling up and affecting the rest of the country, which is still being felt to this very day with daily load shedding for hours on end. Load shedding is energy utility's method of reducing demand on the energy generation system by temporarily switching off the distribution of energy to certain geographical areas for extended periods of time.
Source: Al Jazeera
The path of cyclone Freddy, which started around February 6th off the coast of Australia
The current state of Malawi
In 2019, Malawi was ranked 5th in the world among countries most affected by climate change through disruptions to productivity in key economic sectors including agriculture, roads, dams, and other infrastructure. Scientists say human-caused climate change has worsened cyclone activity, making them more frequent and intense, with stronger winds and heavier rainfall. The impacts from extreme weather events such as cyclones and flooding have exerted extra economic pressures on local economies as already strained governments and development partners have had to quickly provision for emergency funding requirements to rebuild destroyed infrastructure and respond to the immediate needs of affected citizens.
It is important to note the current economic woes and instability the country is facing. The economy is saddled with ongoing corruption, high inflation, rising poverty, limited employment opportunities, exchange-rate instability (following a 25% currency devaluation in May 2022) and slowing growth. The government is attempting to restructure its debt with the International Monetary Fund, but that is to be determined. One can only imagine what a natural disaster of this magnitude could do to a country like Malawi.
Community is everything
“Mwana wa nzako, ndiwako yemwe, ukachenjera manja udya naye” (A neighbor’s child is yours as well, treat him well – he’ll remember you.”). This is the core philosophy of the communal life that exists among Malawians. A child is the responsibility of everyone, and each village thinks of itself as one big family. Children are taught their family tree, and to respect and help their neighbors. Within communal living, the rules are very simple: neighbors, friends, and relations turn up unannounced, and you welcome them with a warm smile. Always know that one person being paid usually has a whole community behind them to support. Whether people were directly affected or not by the cyclone, everyone was affected indirectly. Just last night at dinner, a friend shared the story of how he has friends who just happened to be at work when the flash floods ravaged their home and tore down their community. Everyone in their village died except them.
Longstanding impacts of cyclone Freddy
As of today, there are over 500+ deaths recorded with hundreds of thousands of people displaced and affected by the cyclone. In the aftermath, rescue services are continuing to search for survivors amidst the rubble and debris, however transportation services are slow due to heavily impacted roads. A lot of areas are inaccessible, restricting movement of assessment and humanitarian teams and life-saving supplies. The cyclone has caused mass infrastructure damage throughout the southern region, including the power and water supply. The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) says it needs “a few weeks more” to assess the damage and restore supply to pre-cyclone levels. A lot of the poles and transformers have fallen, which has sadly increased cases of vandalism and theft of the infrastructure.
The Southern Region Water Board announced last Thursday that cyclone Freddy has affected the Board's capacity to pump and distribute water due to a lack of electricity. Several supply centers in the south have no water supply at all, which may persist for the days and weeks to come. On top of all this, Malawi is currently facing it's worst ever cholera outbreak with over 1,600 total deaths and there are many fears that the flooding will only worsen the state of the epidemic and other water-borne diseases may arise. Temporary camps have been established for shelter surrounding the affected communities. However, the camps have few toilets compared to the number of people being accommodated, no running water, waste bins or pits. There are also few or no bathroom facilities available.
During a visit to the affected areas last Wednesday, President Lazarus Chakwera declared a 14-day national mourning period. Chakwera authorized the release of 1.6 billion kwacha ($1.5m) to assist Malawians affected by the cyclone. However, that will only make a small dent in what is needed to restore the country. As a nation that largely depends on international funding and support, Malawi can receive all the help they can get at this time. While health and humanitarian organizations such as UNICEF, Red Cross, USAID, MSF, WFP, and the WHO are assisting, more resources, food, clothing, potable water, and shelter are needed to provide some sort of relief and hope for the thousands impacted.
Source: Al Jazeera