Heavy rains cause disruption
Heavy rainfall yesterday caused disruption on most roads in the country’s cities and damaged houses and other property after hours of downpour.
The rains turned most roads with poor drainage systems impassable as motorists found it hard to drive due to large amounts of surface water on the roads.
Haile Selassie Road in Blantyre’s central business district (CBD) was inundated by water that rose several centimetres making movement of vehicles hard.
The worst affected areas in Blantyre included Bangwe, Mbayani and Ndirande where several houses were reported to have been destroyed by the heavy rainfall which took several hours to subside.
Reports also indicate that Lilongwe and Zomba cities also experienced heavy rains that interrupted people’s routine businesses.
“It has been raining since morning. The weather is humid but we have not received any case of destruction of houses or other properties,” said Patricia Sipiliano, Zomba Police Station spokesperson.
In Blantyre, there was also misery on the newly-constructed stretch of the Masauko Chipembere Highway between Yiannakis Roundabout and Standard Bank.
There was no immediate comment from weather experts but last month the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (DCCMS) forecast continued heavy rains characterised by lightning, thunder and strong winds in most parts of the country.
The department said the rains were due to a tropical depression (very deep low pressure area) located north of Quelimane in Mozambique in association with the rain bearing systems, the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ICTZ) and Congo Air Mass.
