In this two-part series—which has been produced with support from the Louise Behan Grant, an initiative of the World Federation of Science Journalists—RICHARD CHIROMBO analyses the potential strengths and weaknesses of existing scientific approaches to flood management and their impact on reducing flood-related damage in the Shire Valley.
Aged only 25, Steward Nankhumwa’s voice is already weighed down by painful memories.
The college student, who is based in Malawi’s old capital, Zomba, says he has had nightmares about floods, such that he decided to do something about the situation.
“In the past, storm and cyclone-induced floods were not occurring at the rate they are doing now. Not nowadays. We hear about storms and cyclones causing devastation in Malawi almost every year, which signals a problem,” Nankhumwa, who we found at his home, which is located along the floods-prone Likangala River, points out.
Even at his relatively young age, he is speaking from experience.
At the centre of the storm
Malawi has, somehow, become inundated with storm and cyclone-induced disasters in recent years.
In March 2008, Malawi had a close call with a cyclone, namely Jokwe, which brought heavy rains that were accompanied by strong winds. With speeds of up to 105 metres per hour, it especially decimated property in some parts of Mozambique, with Malawi receiving some of the heavy winds and rains that accompanied it, albeit without registering cases of property damage.
If anything, it is Cyclone Funso, which made landfall in Malawi in January 2012 and induced floods that caused power outages, that made Malawians aware of the risk at hand; that is, increased vulnerability to cyclones.
The natural phenomenon was particularly noticeable because it had been two years since the last cyclone, namely Gelane, had been recorded in the region.
And, after a relatively calm period, the expected also happened in 2019 when, in March, Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall in the country. It induced heavy rains that were accompanied by heavy winds, culminating in landslides and, in some areas of the country, floods.
A month later, Cyclone Lorna hit, bringing winds that, in some cases, reached 130 kilometres per hour. Its defining features included flooding that culminated in damage to public roads, houses, crop fields. The floods also led to power outages and disrupted water supply systems, among other things.
Malawians, Nankhumwa inclusive, have also been witnesses to Tropical Storm Ana, which made landfall in the Southern African Development Community member state in January 2022 and affected some parts of central and southern Malawi.
As before, it left devastation in its wake, leaving 70-plus people dead, damaging crops, disrupting the provision of education services and leaving 945,728 people—especially those in the Shire Valley districts of Nsanje and Chikwawa, as well as other Southern Region districts of Phalombe, Mangochi and Mulanje—in dire need of relief items such as food and shelter.
In addition, Nankhumwa and many other Malawians have fond memories of Tropical Storm Ana, which impacted the country in January 2022, followed, in March of the same year, by Tropical Storm Ana, both of which brought heavy rains and strong winds that induced floods. Public facilities such as roads, houses, health centres, schools, among things, were destroyed.
Then, on March 11, 2023, Tropical Cyclone Freddy made landfall in Malawi—a country located in Southern Africa, east of Zambia, west and north of Mozambique—with a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment Report estimating that 225 people died, 109,625 hectares of crops for around 308,000 farming families getting washed away, with over 288,000 houses damaged and total damage and losses estimated at $220.2 million.
Freddy killed more than 225 people in Malawi and left thousands of homes in ruins. Many areas were flooded, sparking landslides and other calamities.
It prompted President Lazarus Chakwera to declare a state of disaster.
In December 2024, Malawi became the victim of Cyclone Chido, which the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) indicated affected 46, 017 people in 23 districts, with 13 people dying, 29 sustaining injuries and members of 227 households getting displaced.
This year, the country has already borne the brunt of Cyclone Jude, with Dodma indicating that the rains it induced affected 3,600 people in the Southern Region, with three people reported missing. Later, it said bodies of two of the missing people had been found.
According to Nsanje District Council spokesperson Robert Nayeja, searches led to the recovery of the bodies of Joe Tisowa, 26, and 11-year-old Chifundo Patrick.
Thirteen Southern Region districts were affected by the cyclone, according to Dodma Commissioner Charles Kalemba, who indicated that the three people went missing after a canoe they were sailing in capsized in Ruo River.
The affected councils were Mulanje, Chikwawa, Thyolo, Zomba City, Phalombe, Neno, Mwanza and Mangochi.
Surprisingly, Mangochi was the hardest hit, with 1,421 households affected in areas under Traditional Authority (TA) Chowe and Sub-TA Moto. In TAs Nsabwe and Nsabwe in Thyolo District, 849 people were affected.
A Chikwawa District Council report indicates that three houses collapsed in TA Mulilima’s area whereas a Zomba City report indicates that 19 households (approximately 86 people) have been affected.
Dodma also indicates that apart from 774 people that are reported to have been affected in TA Nkanda, the council received reports of damage from TA Njema and Sunganinzeru.
In Neno, about 410 people were affected in TA Dambe and Chekucheku, with most roads being rendered impassable.
In fact, in Neno District, residents had no electricity for three consecutive days following the collapsing of electric poles due to heavy rains and strong winds.
On its part, the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (Met) has indicated that the cyclone made landfall in Malawi through Phalombe District.
The department’s director Dr Lucy Mtilatila indicates that “The storm reduced its intensity when it was approaching Malawi”.
Already, non-governmental organisations such as Care Malawi have activated their Jude Crisis Modifier initiatives, under which it is providing a cash caution of K70,000 each and other relief items to those affected by disaster.
Care Malawi Humanitarian Assistance Programme Manager Burnet Khulumbo indicates that they want to ease the suffering of people who have been affected by natural phenomena.
“Care Malawi [also] issued cash to people who were affected by drought, which affected crops in Mangochi and some parts of the country during the last farming seasons,” he indicates.
Under the drought response project, Care Malawi and its partners are providing K92, 500 each to over 15,000 households that were affected by drought last year.
“The money will be paid for three months, starting from this month [March],” he says.
The Malawi Red Cross Society has joined the efforts.
Life in climate-change dictated world
According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), which issued the ‘State of the Global Climate’ report in Geneva on March 19, 2025, key climate indicators reached record levels last year, with long-term warming remaining below 1.5 degrees Celsius, sea-level rise and ocean warning remaining “irreversible” for hundreds of years, among other things.
It also indicates that “record” greenhouse gas concentrations combined with El Niño and other factors driving record hit during the year in question.
The report further shows that “globally, each of the past 10 years were individually the warmest. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are at the highest levels in the last 800,000 years”.
It cites early warnings and the provision of timely climate services as key to “protecting communities and economies”.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has since called for requisite action.
“Our planet is issuing more distress signals—but this report shows that limiting long-term global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius is still possible. Leaders must step up to make it happen—seizing the benefits of cheap, clean renewables for their people and economies— with new national climate plans due this year.”
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo echoes the sentiments.
“While a single year above 1.5 °C of warming does not indicate that the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement are out of reach, it is a wake-up call that we are increasing the risks to our lives, economies and to the planet.”
For Malawi, taking requisite action started with the recognition that, perhaps, some things were not being done the proper way.
One of the activities that have been taking place is the creation of national anticipatory action dialogue platforms. The first meeting took place almost two years ago, with the second one taking place last year.
Such meetings attract government officials, humanitarian actors, Malawi’s development partners, researchers and members of community-based organisations and are premised on enhancing collaboration and deepening understanding of anticipatory action initiatives.
So far, a Multi-Sector Malawi Anticipatory Action Roadmap, one that aligns with the country’s commitment to climate responses, has been formed and some actors are already implementing activities listed in it.
Speaking at the meeting that was held in November last year, Dodma Deputy Director responsible for preparedness Fedson Chikuse pointed out that before Cyclone Freddy and last year’s El-Nino spate, Malawians lacked anticipatory actions, hence natural phenomena’s impacts were devastating on communities.
“Anticipatory action offers a powerful pathway to mitigate these impacts. By acting early, lives can be protected, livelihoods safeguarded and emergency response costs reduced,” Chikuse points out.
It is an idea the Malawi Red Cross Society is advancing. Its secretary general Chifundo
Kalulu acknowledges that prioritising anticipatory action and disaster preparedness can help Malawi minimise the devastating impacts of disasters and promote resilience among community members.
He says putting in place such a mechanism “is not merely a matter of policy; it is a matter of survival, particularly in the face of escalating climate risks and other challenges” that are affecting Malawi and other countries.
In February this year, Dodma Principal Disaster Preparedness Officer Edwin Zawanda singled out anticipatory humanitarian action as a viable long-term strategy for mitigating the impacts of perennial floods, including problems such as loss of lives and property.
He said this in Chikwawa District during a co-design workshop for the Anticipatory Action Project, which Eagles Relief is implementing in Chikwawa District while Church Aid in Relief and Development is implementing in Nsanje District.
Both districts are prone to floods.
Zawanda adds that apart from taking anticipatory action, there are other mechanisms employed to ensure that people remain safe from disasters, natural or otherwise.
“In fact, in Nsanje and Chikwawa, we moved people from disaster-prone areas to upper areas. Not only that, we are taking steps to sensitise community members, in terms of disaster preparedness.
“In addition to such actions, the new Disaster Risk Management Act empowers Dodma to make sure that people move from disaster-prone areas to areas where they will be safe. As for those who are sticking to such areas, there are regulations that ensure that they move from such areas,” Zawanda points out.
Meanwhile, Eagles Relief Programmes Officer Trywell Khonje has described anticipatory action as a significant short to medium-term strategic plan of minimising the impact of floods in vulnerable areas.
He explains that the framework, which is a new concept in Malawi, will enable community members to develop tailored disaster-preparedness interventions.“Local community members will, among other things, facilitate the process of identifying potential actions to implement between the time an early warning message is received and the onset of a disaster in communities.
“What happens is that between the time an early warning has been issued and time of disaster, the period in-between is ideal for anticipatory action. We have anticipatory action at district level, contained in the district contingency plan. Common anticipatory actions include cash transfers to households; strengthening of structures, including providing black plastic material; and, in extreme situations, promoting the early harvesting of crops,” Khonje says.
“However, in cases of floods, you are very limited, in terms of anticipatory actions, because you have very few days during which to take action. It must be noted that [anticipatory action] is implemented if we have 85 percent probability of disaster,” he adds.
To make matters worse for Malawi, Lake Malawi levels have been rising in the past two years, with some hospitality industry players in the lakeshore district of Mangochi bearing the brunt.
Now, after finding an opportunity in gaps that have been identified when implementing activities in anticipation of floods, Nankhumwa has devised a solution, namely the introduction of a floods alarm in Likangala River.
With it, he hopes that climate change-induced problems such as floods will no longer weigh down on his voice—and body.
