After the Floods

I'm back at my site now after being away for 8 days. Everything is just how I left it, except for lizard poop everywhere and a new garden bed that my landlord's son put in for me while I was away. The wet wall seems to be drying now and the remaining part of the brick fence is still standing. The roof leaked in a few places, but it wasn't very much water.

On the mini-bus ride to my site, I passed through an area in my district that had been flooded. You could see how high the river had gotten, and many downed trees. There were also a number of buildings that had been severely damaged. We also drove by what appeared to be a flood refugee camp. The flooding was devastating for many people in Malawi, costing people their homes, their businesses and even their lives.

The Guardian has a series of photos on the flooding which shows the areas that were hit the hardest, Chikwawa and Nsanje.

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/gallery/2015/jan/21/malawi-floods-cause-devastation-in-pictures

The second cyclone that was predicted to come through ended up missing Southern Malawi, so the weather has evened out here. It hasn't done much more than shower since I've been back, and there has been lots of sunshine in between.

I'm grateful for PC looking out for the safety of me and all the other PCVs. I'm also grateful that my home and school and my village are okay.

Update on Malawi Storms

All of the intense rain has caused severe flooding in Malawi, particularly in the South. Half of the country has been declared a disaster area. People have lost homes, whole villages have flooded, and so far over 170 people have died. 

All of the PCVs are okay. PC has been closely monitoring the situation and moved all of the PCVs out of the affected areas until it is safe to return. My village was okay when I left, though I did see flooding in other areas of my district. However, the rains started up again and there is supposed to be another system coming in.

Here is an article about the flooding from CNN:

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/17/africa/malawi-flooding/

Please keep the people of Malawi in your prayers.