Blantyre, Malawi, Jan. 18 (MaraviPost): A total of 415 schools have been affected of which 234 have had their roofs blown off or were submerged in water or collapsed across the country raging floods continue causing havoc in Malawi, Vice President Saulos Chilima said Sunday.
At least 181 school blocks are also being used as Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps thereby disrupting classes.
“Government has started providing tents in such areas where the displaced people are staying in school blocks to ensure that learning is not affected,” he said.
A total of 442 community child day-care centres catering for at least 28,007 children have also been temporarily closed due to the flooding.
Chilima said some 3,777 tents are required to offer temporary shelter to the nearly 200,000 people that have been displaced by the floods. At least 176 people have been confirmed dead but the figure is likely to rise as hundreds others are still missing, especially in the flood-prone southern Lower Shire Valley.
Meanwhile, a team from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has arrived in Malawi to assist in the response coordination as more flooding is expected over the coming days.
South Africa’s Rescue SA is also expected to send more rescuers.
Rescue SA’s Ian Scher was quoted by a South African website Eye Witness as saying: “The staff are all experienced fire-fighter paramedic rescuers and they understand harsh conditions. They are expecting a lot more rain so I believe we will have a lot more work to do.”
According to the United Nations Country Representative Mia Seppo, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will fly in a plane-load relief supplies, including bottled water, food and sanitation facilities. The relief items will also include tents, tarpaulins and cooking utensils.
The governments of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Norway, Germany and Ireland are funding the supplies, according to Seppo.
The World Food Programme (WFP) will also fly in 100 metric tonnes of food from the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, according to the UN body’s statement. This, according to the UN agency, is targeted at least 77,000 displaced people.
Meanwhile, a joint army and police search and rescue operation is still underway in the Lower Shire Valley. According to Vice President Chilima, at least 307 people were rescued by helicopter while 1,264 more were evacuated using boats.
“Since the rains are expected to continue, I would like to continue urging all people living in low-lying areas in flood-prone districts to move upland and avoid crossing fast-flowing streams and rivers in order to avoid losing lives as a result of the floods,” said Chilima whose office is coordinating the relief, search, recovery and rescue efforts.-maravipost
