The 2015 Floods

As usual, I pulled out the homeschool books for the day and settled into the couch with the kids to do some reading.  It had been raining for a while and the wind was really picking up.  I particularly noticed how stormy it was while I read from a book we had been working through for a couple of weeks.  That morning’s chapter involved a hurricane hitting Palm Beach, FL and how one family prepared for and weathered the storm.  I paused a moment to reassure the children that we were not experiencing a hurricane, although it was very windy and rainy outside (just like in the book) and that we didn’t need to board up our windows to be safe, etc.

Little did I know that it truly was a tropical storm passing over!

The 8x4x2 foot drain at the bottom of our property
filled nearly to the top during the storm.
Water drains from other properties uphill
to collect and drain here.

It started the morning of January 12^th, 2015 and continued storming through the 15^th – all day, all night.  It was incredible to experience so much constant rain, very heavy at times, accompanied by impressive wind.  We had no idea of the magnitude of the storm at the time (we don’t have live radar and rarely tune into a weather report).  The most immediate results we noticed were lack of power and water.  The massive increase of water in the Shire River resulted in the shutting down of generators to prevent damage to them, which meant drastic power shedding and no running water supplied to most of the city of Blantyre.  For 3 weeks we had very little electricity, ranging from 12-16 hours of the day without power.  We charged up at night and planned meals carefully, using our backup gas burner.  

Carrying containers, in search of water

One can go a good while without electricity (people did for thousands of years, right?!), but no water is devastating.  While driving to town, I saw people lined up outside the house at the end of our road and several other houses further on.  All had empty buckets, awaiting the possibility of water.  Later I learned that the gate where they waited had a borehole (deep well) –  the only local way to access water throughout the shortage.  Although we had been through other water shortages before, this one was wide-spread throughout the city, obviously altering the lives of everyone we knew, rich or poor.   

Catching water from our roof at
any time of day or night (almost),
you catch it when it comes!

Water has since begun reaching many parts of the city again, slowly and unreliably, but there is hope.  Our water is touch and go (now around 4 weeks after the storm), but with collected rain, we are doing okay.  Clean drinking water is the main concern as contamination is a serious threat for many after the floods, particularly in rural flooded areas.  Everyone has been encouraged to treat the water (from the tap or borehole) to condition it for drinking.  Personally, we filter all our drinking and cooking water.  The spread of diseases such as cholera and typhoid are likely in situations where many people are living in camps without a clean water supply.  It is also the peak of malaria season in Malawi. 

As the storm subsided and people took stock of their homes, news began to spread of the vast devastation across the country, particularly in the southern half of Malawi.   In both rural and urban areas where houses are built from mud bricks (sometimes fired, sometimes not) held together by mud or diluted concrete, with or without a foundation, falling walls and houses were inevitable.  The stories shared in news articles are astounding.  Here are some we have found to be helpful in understanding the damage to property and life as a result of the storm:

Malawi floods leave grim legacy of death, destruction and devastation

Flood in Photos

Malawi Floods: The Long Slog Home

UNICEF Reports

A Malawian Climate Change Specialist' Perspective 

If you would like to provide flood relief assistance through the BIC Church in Malawi, please write a check to "Brethren in Christ World Missions" and designate it to the "Global Compassion Fund -- for Malawi". Mail to 431 Grantham Rd. Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-5812.  Church leaders are currently assessing how the floods affected BIC churches and will oversee relief efforts as funds are available.