Pope Francis appeals for Cyclone ravaged Malawi help
Catholic Church leader Pope Francis has appealed for help for Malawi heavily hit by Tropical Cyclone Freddy from last week Friday to Tuesday, leaving at least 250 people dead, others injured, missing and displaced.
According to Vatican News, Pope Francis has prayed for the Lord to support families and communities most hit by the calamity.
“I am close to the people of Malawi, hit in recent days by a very strong cyclone,” Pope Francis is quoted by Vatican News during his general audience on Wednesday.
“I pray for the dead, the injured, the displaced. May the Lord support families and communities most tried by this calamity.
Cyclone Freddy has been battering Mozambique before it a made a landfall on Friday, wracking havoc in its wake in the commercial city Townships of Blantyre was the hardest hit Chilobwe, Naotcha, Machinjiri, Bangwe, Manja and Ndirande.
The cyclone has affected life with the damage caused to roads and bridges rendering most areas impassable or hard to reach. Power outage for days after the electricity poles fell down by heavy winds amidst incessant rains.
President Lazarus Chakwera, who returned from a Least Developing Country summit in Doha, Qatar, declared state of disaster and on Wednesday travelled from the capital Lilongwe to Blantyre and visited where he led the nation at a funeral for 17 of those who died in Chilobwe and were buried at St Maris Cemetery near Chilobwe Township.
He also visited camps where the displaced are living temporarily.
The Southern Region districts of Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Mulanje, Mwanza, Neno, Nsanje, Phalombe, Thyolo and Zomba were the hardest hit by the cyclone which has since withdrawn from Wednesday.
