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The heavy rains have also damaged crops in the
country, which last year harvested a bumper 3.9 million tonnes
of the staple maize crop, a surplus of almost a million tonnes.
Malawi's Department of Climate Change and Meteorological
Services has warned of heavy rainfall and flash floods in the
country for the next two to three weeks.
"So far, it is estimated that 69,995 people have been displaced
by the floods and 48 people have lost their lives. The floods
have also damaged a lot of hectares of crops, washed away
livestock and damaged infrastructure such as roads and bridges,"
Mutharika said in a statement late on Tuesday.
He also said many people remained stranded and would need to be
rescued from low-lying areas prone to flooding.
"I declare all the 15 districts that have been affected by
floods Disaster Areas... I appeal for humanitarian assistance,
from the international donor community," he said.
The crop outlook in the country, where much agriculture is still
done by subsistence farmers, has deteriorated after a late start
to rains in the summer planting season which usually gets
underway in October or November.
"Delayed and overall below-average cumulative rains since the
start of the rainy season in October last year have adversely
affected the 2015 cereal crops, but prolonged heavy rains may
worsen the situation," said Jeffrey Luhanga, Principal Secretary
in the Ministry of Agriculture.
Wet weather has also wreaked damage in neighboring Mozambique,
which has been hit periodically by catastrophic floods in the
past.
Bridges have collapsed in the country and the newly elected
government there has declared a "red alert" for the central and
northern parts of the country and was sending rescue boats and
aid to stricken areas.
(Reporting by Mabvuto Banda in Lilongwe and Manuel Mucari in
Maputo; Editing by Zandi Shabalala, Ed Stoddard and Susan
Fenton)
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