The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) has advised people in flood-prone areas to move to safer and higher grounds as a matter of urgency.

The advice follows a looming Tropical Cyclone Freddy warning, which the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (DCCMS) has issued earlier this week.

According to the weather authorities, Tropical Cyclone Freddy is slowly heading towards the Mozambique coast with an estimated maximum wind speed of 175 kilometers per hour.

The department said the Cyclone will make a second landfall over the Mozambique coast between Beira and Nampula by Friday, and that likelihood for the Cyclone to move into Southern Malaŵi by Saturday is high.

In view of this forecast, the Department has warned that damaging winds, torrential rain, and flooding are possible risks in most districts across the southern region.

DoDMA commissioner Charles Kalemba said in statement that the department is treating the warning with urgency and seriousness.

Reads the statement: “Apart from alerting councils; DoDMA has made standby arrangements for the deployment of a search and rescue team comprising the Malawi Defence Force (MDF), the Malawi Police Service (MPS) the Marine Department and the Malawi Red Cross Society.”

DoDMA has called upon Councils to make sure that all civil protection committees are alerted and assist people to move to higher ground.

“Councils are further advised to alert the department at the earliest opportunity in the event that communities are affected by Tropical Storm Freddy,” said Kalemba.

Some of the districts that might be affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy include: Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulo, Mulanje, Mwanza, Neno, Nsanje, Phalombe, Thyolo and Zomba.