Tropical Storm Ana Update

Cyclone Ana hit southern Malawi yesterday and today. Some areas have been hit hard, in other areas the damage appears to be not too bad. In order to get a realistic picture of the situation in these areas, the water will first have to subside. We can be thankful that the rain has largely stopped at this point. We are now waiting for the water to subside. In the meantime, we are preparing for the coming days.

Tomorrow Timotheos will decide what help is needed in which areas. Will you join us in praying for the people of Malawi? 🙏

Natasha Oomen was able to take some aerial pictures with her drone of villages around the Shire river. We have not been able to access the areas around the three Timotheos centres in the southern region. You can notice in the above images, houses that have a metal roof tend to fair ok through these storms. Typically the houses that are built with straw or have a straw roof do not withstand the power of the storm.

General director Gert Oomen says: "We heard from two of our children's care centers in the south that some houses in the area have collapsed. One child was injured and was taken to hospital. Furthermore, it seems that the damage varies greatly per area. Hopefully the rivers will be a little lower tomorrow so people can move around better to see what the situation is in the villages."

In less than two days, more than 350mm of rain fell in some places. The road from Blantyre (location of Timotheos’ office) to the southern areas is impassable, because the Shire river has flooded and destroyed a bridge. Three of our six childcare centers are currently not reachable.

In the above gallery you can compare the same valley view from today to an image that was taken in October.

Our thoughts are with the Malawians in the affected villages. As soon as more is known, we will give you an update both here and on social media. Thank you for your involvement and prayers thus far.