Pilirani Aironi and his wife Mercy, regarding to give birth, have to walk 15 kilometers through a flooded area in southern Malawi, hard hit by Cyclone Freddy, in an attempt to reach the nearest medical facility. close.
“We will find a way to bring him to the hospital today,” wants to believe Pilirani Aironi, met on Saturday by AFP.
Their village, in the municipality of Muloza, near the border with Mozambique, was devastated by the cyclone, which left at least 438 dead, 918 injured and more than 345,000 displaced, according to the latest government report. The bad weather was so violent – the equivalent of six months of rain in six days, which caused mudslides and floods that washed away houses, roads and bridges – that new waterways appeared.
When an AFP journalist met them, Mercy and Pilirani Aironi, who walk barefoot, had already had to cross three of these newly appeared streams. “We knew there are more rivers on the way but we have no choice,” says Mr Aironi.
Located on a mountain slope, their village was almost completely swept away by a landslide caused by bad weather. Large white boulders, sand and water cover the area where houses once stood.
– Deaths and hunger –
The injured also had to be taken to hospital on foot. Among them were eight relatives of Winditoni Makava, 75. “We carried them on our shoulders or on stretchers,” he says.
Nine other members of his family died in the floods, but only five bodies were recovered.
Leaving the village is difficult, and help is also struggling to arrive. AFP was able to go there aboard an army helicopter carrying medical aid. But food is lacking.
“We survive by the grace of God”, testifies the local traditional leader, Manuel Nachidwa. “Most of us survive on bananas” on the trees.
Cyclone Freddy, which dissipated this week following killing more than 570 people in southern Africa, affected more than half a million people in Malawi.
It had first struck at the end of February, in Madagascar and Mozambique. He then returned to the Indian Ocean, where he had gained power thanks to the warm waters, before – extremely rare – to turn around and return to hit the continent.
At least 89 people have died in Mulanje district, according to the official toll – but many more according to locals.
“Many people are still buried under these rocks,” said Manuel Nachidwa.
