Rampaging floods wreck destruction in Malawi

Blantyre, Malawi - Thousands of Malawians have been rendered homeless b y rampaging floods which have also destroyed crops, officials told PANA here Fri d ay.

In the southern Lower Shire District of Chikwawa, where over 2, 000 people hav e already been affected by the floods, there are fresh reports of more floods Fr i day.

District Commissioner Lackford Palani said following heavy rains that have bee n falling this week several hectares of farmlands have been washed away.

"We are still assessing the situation to find out how many people and how many hectares of crop fields have been affected," he said.

Heavy floods have also been reported in the southern district of Machinga and the central district of Ntcheu.

Machinga District Commissioner James Makonokaya said hundreds of people and se veral hectares of crop fields have been affected but assessment were still being made.

In Ntcheu, over 85 hectares of maize field have been washed away, according to district planning officer David Gondwe.

The floods have also displaced about 3, 000 people in four villages and washed away a railway bridge.

The situation is equally bad in the southern Lower Shire Valley district of Ns anje, on the border with Mozambique, where inhabitants of several villages are r e locating to higher grounds in the wake of heavy flooding.

District Commissioner Toby Solomoni said "We have lost several crops and lives tock but luckily no person has died."

According to James Chiusiwa of the Department of Disaster Preparedness, heavy floods have also been reported in the southern lakeshore district of Mangochi, t h e central districts of Dedza and Lilongwe and the northern lakeshore districts o f Nkhata Bay and Karonga where several people have been displaced and hundreds of crop fields destroyed.

Meanwhile, government is warning people in flood-prone districts to move uplan d because there are likely to be more flooding before the rainy season ends.

Despite several warnings, people are reluctant to move out of flood-prone area s because the soils are fertile, alluvial and therefore good for agriculture.

Traditionalists also believe they will be cursed if they abandon graves of the ir ancestors.