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CONTEXT
Tropical Cyclone Freddy hit Malawi on 11 March 2023,
exacerbating existing damages from previous storms. Tropical
Cyclone Freddy inflicted severe harm, including significant
infrastructure damage, particularly to the transportation
network in the Southern Region. As a result of landslides and
flash flooding immediately following the storm, seven districts,
home to a population exceeding four million people, were
either partially or completely cut off from road access.
On 13 March, the Government of Malawi declared a State of
Disaster in the Southern Region to accelerate the mobilization
of resources to assist the affected population. According to the
Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) conducted in April, 58
bridges were destroyed and 1,820 kilometres of road network
were damaged by the storm.
Road access to the hard-hit districts of Chikwawa and Nsanje
was rendered inaccessible due to multiple road cuts and
demolished bridges; areas of Chiradzulu, Phalombe, Mangochi,
Mulanje, and Zomba districts were partially inaccessible due to
infrastructure damages as well. Given the extent of road
damages and sustained flooding, helicopters were utilized to
deliver life-saving relief supplies, provide emergency medical
patient transfers, and conduct needs assessments.
Transport infrastructure damages also severely impacted
private sector companies; railway operations from Nacala Port
(Mozambique) to Malawi were halted for 13 days following the
cyclone.
In this context, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs
(DoDMA) leads a national cluster coordination system for
disaster response efforts. Within this, the National Transport
and Logistics Cluster (TLC) is led by the Ministry of Transport
and Public Works (MoTPW) and co-led by the World Food
Programme (WFP). This coordination mechanism facilitates
information sharing between partners on logistics and supply
chain-related challenges.
Given the magnitude of recent events and critical role of
logistics in a timely response, the TLC conducted a needs
assessment to identify and address logistics gaps moving
forward. The TLC team prioritized the involvement of a diverse
range of participants in this assessment, including stakeholders
from subnational government and private sector. Both groups
play crucial roles in logistics operations for emergency
response in Malawi.
Source link : https://reliefweb.int/report/malawi/transport-logistics-needs-assessment-malawi-southern-africa
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Publish date : 2023-09-07 07:00:00
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