The ministry of homeland security said on Friday heavy rains and flooding in southern Malawi have killed at least twenty-three people and eleven missing.
Homeland Security Minister Nicholas Dausi said in a statement that search and rescue teams have been deployed, and more than twenty-two thousand households have been affected by the floods.
Power-generating capacity and water supplies have been knocked out in some areas.
Around 270 megawatts of Malawi’s 320 megawatts of available hydropower capacity was offline, electricity company EGENCO said in a statement, adding that teams were working to restore power supplies and clear debris at power stations. Malawi generates hydropower along the Shire River which flows out of Lake Malawi.
Malawi relies heavily on financing from foreign donors and is an importer of fuel and other essential commodities.