No serious flood damage - WFP

A World Food Programme (WFP) rapid assessment in the southern Chikwawa district which was flooded more than a week ago has found no serious damage.

WFP officer-in-charge Ayoub al-Jaloudi told IRIN on Monday: "The situation is not alarming." He said the assessment team - which included members of the Chikwawa District Assembly - reported that no lives were lost, even though much-needed seedlings had been destroyed during the flooding.

Al-Jaloudi said the team, which visited the district on 3 January, found that about 1,750 households in 13 villages were affected. According to the team, villagers were hit by flash-floods from 27-29 December 2001 after the swollen Mwanza and Shire rivers burst their banks. Al-Jaloudi said WFP would respond to the impact of the flash-floods within the framework of the national disaster mitigation plan.

The majority of villages hit by the flash-flooding were also affected by flooding at the beginning of last year. While the authorities have tried to get people to move to higher ground during the rainy season, or to rebuild their homes above the flood plains permanently, many have simply refused, waiting instead for the rains to arrive first.

Weather predictions indicated normal rainfall for Malawi this year, but this still means that many people along the flood plains could be displaced before the wet season is over.