Flooding wouldn't itself be such news, except that Malawi has been in the grips of a drought that has decimated their crops and livestock - until now.
A heavy down pour in the lakeshore districts of Karonga and Nkhata Bay last Sunday dashed hopes of a bumper crop to 650 families who have had their crop fields and livestock swept away by the heavy rain spillage
In his address to parliament president Bingu wa Mutharika had predicted that after many years of poor harvest due to drought, Malawi, this year expected a "bumper maize harvest."
That outlook has changed.
“We are finished. We had hopes of bumper yields this year but look, our cassava, maize and livestock have been swept into the lake,” cries 72-year-old Jikama Nyabanda. Flood continue since last month to destroy yield.
Last month they run down the country’s southern region lake shore district of Mangochi, leaving 400 families without hope of ever having a decent meal and food self-sufficiency. 90 per cent of Malawi’s population depend on rural subsistence farming.