Storm set to hit South Thursday
The Department of Climate Change and Weather Services says a storm will hit the Southern Region while the rest of the country will experience a “wet week”.
The department’s head of public weather services, Elina Kululanga, said in an interview on Tuesday that districts such as Blantyre, Zomba and Mulanje will bear worse effects of the storm expected to start on Thursday.
Said Kululanga: “This will be a wet week [nationwide]. Heavy rains will start today [yesterday] and intensify into the weekend. As for the Southern Region, a storm is sitting over it. This means there will be heavy rains accompanied by heavy winds and thunderstorms.”
She warned that the heavy rains in Blantyre, Zomba and Mulanje will create floods in the Shire Valley and other low-lying areas, creating more strife.
“This will worsen the situation in flood-prone areas, which are already grappling to recover from earlier floods. Therefore, all those who can manage need to move to uplands while children should never play around flooded areas,” Kululanga advised.
She said unlike the earlier downpours three weeks ago, the expected rains will only be heavy, but not torrential.
Added Kululanga: “They will just be heavy at once.”
The rains will take a break between Saturday and Monday before resuming with a similar pattern the other week.
Following the previous persistent rains, rivers burst their banks, houses and entire villages were swept away, and large chunks of land are still submerged—some in waters three metres deep.
