A preliminary assessment conducted by Neno District Council Disaster office on Monday has established that 129 households have been affected by the hailstorm which affected some areas of Traditional Authority (TA) Chekucheku and Senior Chief Dambe on November 17 2022.
Relief and Rehabilitation Officer for Neno, Brighton Mphinga said the affected families are in need of urgent food items, kitchen utensils and roofing materials.
“The affected families are in urgent need of food supplies as some of the victim’s maize and flour was destroyed during the tragedy,” he said.
Mphinga added that five people have been injured including a two-year-old child from Kalioni Village in the area of TA Chekucheku and was currently admitted to Neno District Hospital.
He said the hailstorm damaged two school blocks at Kalioni Primary School.
Kalioni Primary School Head Teacher, Paul Steven said the school has embarked on double shift for some classes so that school sessions should not be disrupted because of the calamity.
Beyond Our Hearts Foundation Project Officer, Pemphero Nkhata whose organisation took part in the assessment said the organisation with funding from Save the Children Italy was implementing a localisation project of strengthening institutional capacity of local authorities and civil society for emergency preparedness and response.
He said one of the capacity strengtheningstrategies is to help district councils in emergency assessment so that local organisations should appreciate the process of emergency assessment and help the councils where necessary and respond to the needs of the communities’efficiently and effectively.
