In this two-part series—which has been produced with support from the Louise Behan Grant, an initiative of the World Federation of Science Journalists—RICHARD CHIROMBO analyses the potential strengths and weaknesses of existing scientific approaches to flood management and their impact on reducing flood-related damage in the Shire Valley.

Aged only 25, Steward Nankhumwa’s voice is already weighed down by painful memories.

The college student, who is based in Malawi’s old capital, Zomba, says he has had nightmares about floods, such that he decided to do something about the situation.

“In the past, storm and cyclone-induced floods were not occurring at the rate they are doing now. Not nowadays. We hear about storms and cyclones causing devastation in Malawi almost every year, which signals a problem,” Nankhumwa, who we found at his home, which is located along the floods-prone Likangala River, points out.

Even at his relatively young age, he is speaking from experience.

At the centre of the storm

Malawi has, somehow, become inundated with storm and cyclone-induced disasters in recent years.

In March 2008, Malawi had a close call with a cyclone, namely Jokwe, which brought heavy rains that were accompanied by strong winds. With speeds of up to 105 metres per hour, it especially decimated property in some parts of Mozambique, with Malawi receiving some of the heavy winds and rains that accompanied it, albeit without registering cases of property damage.

If anything, it is Cyclone Funso, which made landfall in Malawi in January 2012 and induced floods that caused power outages, that made Malawians aware of the risk at hand; that is, increased vulnerability to cyclones.

The natural phenomenon was particularly noticeable because it had been two years since the last cyclone, namely Gelane, had been recorded in the region.

And, after a relatively calm period, the expected also happened in 2019 when, in March, Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall in the country. It induced heavy rains that were accompanied by heavy winds, culminating in landslides and, in some areas of the country, floods.

A month later, Cyclone Lorna hit, bringing winds that, in some cases, reached 130 kilometres per hour. Its defining features included flooding that culminated in damage to public roads, houses, crop fields. The floods also led to power outages and disrupted water supply systems, among other things.

Malawians, Nankhumwa inclusive, have also been witnesses to Tropical Storm Ana, which made landfall in the Southern African Development Community member state in January 2022 and affected some parts of central and southern Malawi.

As before, it left devastation in its wake, leaving 70-plus people dead, damaging crops, disrupting the provision of education