Lightning Strikes Claims Fourteen Lives in Malawi

(MENAFN) Malawi is grappling with a catastrophic weather emergency as lightning strikes have claimed 14 lives over the past fortnight, while relentless downpours have obliterated 8,000 residences nationwide, disaster response authorities announced Friday.

Wilson Moleni, commissioner for the state-run Department for Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), briefed journalists in the capital, Lilongwe, confirming fatalities and infrastructure devastation have been documented across multiple regions.

"But since the country is still receiving heavy rains, there is a likelihood that the number of those dead will increase with time," Moleni said.

The commissioner emphasized his agency is working "tirelessly" to deliver humanitarian assistance to thousands displaced by the flooding across the Southeast African nation.

"We are only appealing to the nation to take precautionary measures as the country continues to get rains so that this could avert further loss of lives," he said.

The current crisis mirrors last year's seasonal devastation, when at least eight people perished and 10,000 households were left homeless due to severe precipitation.

In 2023, Cyclone Freddy killed thousands of people in the southern region of the country and displaced millions of others. The country hasn't yet recovered from the economic devastation of the cyclone.

Malawi has endured acute food scarcity for two consecutive years. Last month, President Arthur Peter Mutharika declared a state of national disaster across all 26 districts and issued urgent appeals for international humanitarian intervention, yet according to DoDMA, there is still a "massive deficit in funding" to avert the humanitarian crisis.

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