APA-Blantyre (Malawi) The United Nations is mobilising resources to assist Malawi emerge from the devastation caused by Tropical Cyclone Freddy that has claimed at least 225 lives and swept away over 18,000 houses this week, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Thursday.
Dujarric said the UN and its partners have stepped up efforts to raise resources to support Malawi in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Freddy following the declaration of a state of disaster by the southern African authorities earlier this week.
“We are mobilizing additional teams, but difficult weather conditions have hampered rescue efforts,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, speaking in New York on Wednesday.
He said the UN planned to use the technical and financial assistance being sought to establish an emergency operations centre to strengthen humanitarian coordination among the Malawi government, aid organisations and development partners.
Several UN agencies have deployed staff to the affected areas to support coordination of response and assessment efforts in the areas of information management and logistics, he said.
The UN was currently providing logistical support, including transportation for search and rescue operations, and ferrying humanitarian workers, equipment and supplies to communities that have been cut off by flooding and landslides.
It is also assisting with the delivery of medical supplies and equipment to improve water and sanitation infrastructure to address immediate health needs, including preventing the further spread of cholera.
Cyclone Freddy is one of the most powerful and longest-lasting storms ever recorded in the southern hemisphere.
It made landfall in Mozambique over the weekend, leaving more than 20,000 people homeless before moving to Malawi where the death toll stood at 225 on Wednesday, with more than 18,600 houses destroyed around the second city Blantyre and over 83,000 people forced to seek shelter in accommodation provided by the government and aid agencies.
Dujarric said at least 178 people have been rescued over the past two days, with support from the World Food Programme which provided boats.
Survivors whose homes were washed away by the floods are in desperate need of basic necessities such as food, clean water and blankets.
Malawi on Tuesday declared a state of disaster over the Cyclone Freddy devastation, with Finance Minister Sosten Gwengwe announcing that the government was considering revisiting its 2023-24 budget to help cyclone victims.
He said the Malawian government was considering redirecting “some priorities because the scale of devastation that we have seen here is untold.”
JN/APA