Flood Church responds to cyclone devastation in Malawi

Named the longest running cyclone in the southern hemisphere’s history, Cyclone Freddy made multiple landfalls in Africa over 34 days in February and March. Worst hit in southeastern Africa was the nation of Malawi, where the death toll has risen to over 1000 people. More than 560,000 Malawians are displaced from their homes due to the mudflows along with their family members in them. The damage is staggering.

One church in particular, aptly named “Flood Church,” has been at the forefront of relief efforts providing clothing, cooking oil and maize.  Located in both central as well as southern Malawi, Flood Church has raised over $20,000 CAD from local believers. Flood Church exists to reach upcoming generations for Christ for transformation and has been active among college students with arts and music outreaches. Their impact in helping flood victims cannot be overstated.

Freddy’s path 

Heavy rainfall flooded the plains in the south of Malawi along the Shire River valley where many farmers like to plant, and created catastrophic mudflows throughout its old capital city of Blantyre. 

A generator mechanic in Lilongwe reported, “I was just in Blantyre to visit my uncle. His wife and child were swept away. My mother’s house has also crumbled. We have never seen anything like this.” 

Townships built on hillsides, with houses mostly made of mud bricks, collapsed with the water flow leaving entire families stranded.  Whole communities were without aid for days, with roadways damaged and impassable.  

On February 21, Cyclone Freddy made landfall in Mozambique and in Madagascar with more rainwater than usually experienced in a year’s time before it returned to the ocean. It seemed to have spared Malawi. However, it returned again to make landfall in Malawi on March 11,  wreaking havoc in the south of Malawi. Prior to this, Freddy tracked across the entire Indian Ocean, gaining power from the east side to the west, before landing on Africa’s shores. 

Malawi has already experienced more than its share of issues this past year with the fuel crisis, the massive devaluation of their currency (the kwacha), and the previous years’ devastation of its hydroelectric power supply from another cyclone.  

Another disaster 

In 2022, Cyclone Ana had left Malawi without one third of its power generation supply and the nation was only just recovering when Cyclone Freddy hit. The year prior, Cyclone Idai caused immense flooding as well. Malawi is made up of resilient people who have weathered and overcome many trials. Yet the long term effects from this recent disaster will continue to show themselves as more than 504,000 acres of crops have been destroyed.  Malawi relies heavily on its maize crops each year to feed her people. With unpredictable rain patterns making the previous years’ harvest lower than expected, families were poised to harvest in less than a month’s time after Freddy. This means that some families have not just lost homes and family members, but their crops as well. One woman was photographed attempting to cross a raging mud flow to pluck her un-ripe, green maize in a last attempt to save her next year’s food supply from destruction.  

President Lazarus Chakwera begged the international community to provide relief while attending one of the mass burials. His plea was not new, as weeks prior he had been asking for help from the international medical community in Malawi’s fight against the cholera epidemic that swept through Malawi in January and February. This vaccine preventable disease killed over 1200 people in the months leading up to Freddy. Cholera causes sudden onset diarrhea and vomiting to the extent that patients require 12-14 litres of fluids to revive them, which many patients were unable to receive for lack of resources. There was much concern that the cyclone would exacerbate an already devastating epidemic because of the increase in contaminated water. President Chakwera urged the international community to help the already struggling nation through yet another of its many blows this year.

Many suggest that the ongoing deforestation in Malawi is contributing to the damaging effects of cyclones. Residents rely on trees to make charcoal bricks over which they cook their meals. But without consistent power generation, few lack the electricity to move beyond small fires for cooking.

Aid and the church 

Since the cyclone many churches and missions organizations (as well as AID agencies) have been mobilizing to meet local needs. The larger body of Christ around the world can keep Malawi and her believers in prayer. The ongoing challenges that Malawian believers meet are difficult to comprehend. Losing loved ones, homes and livelihoods is not easy for anyone, but to a people already struggling to feed family members and afford school fees for their children, it can be almost impossible. Let this be an appeal to prayer for this nation to recover, and for Christians to rally around the world to consider what they can do for their neighbours in need.