Rain alert evokes awful memories for Baringo County residents

Rose Chebet, a resident of Kapsenet in Baringo, narrates how she and her family escaped a past mudslide, as the weatherman warns of El Nino rains. [Photo: Joseph Kipsang/Standard]

Rose Chebet, 55, knows all too well the destruction that comes with heavy rains, having survived with injuries during the horrific 1997 El Nino and landslides in 2012.

And news of the expected El Nino rains has sent a chill down her spine, as her Kapsenet village in Baringo County where majority of residents have been forced to harvest farm produce prematurely to avoid losses, is among the hotspots.

Ms Chebet recalled how the August 2012 heavy rains uprooted trees and violently caused the shifting of giant rocks from nearby Kipobilat hills to her mud-walled houses.

She emerged from her crumbling house the following morning to find the debris from the aftermath, crushed tree logs and rocks in a pool of mud.

"That day, God allowed me to escape with my children though with a slight injury. I doubt if we are going to make it this time round if the words of the weathermen are anything to go by," Chebet said Tuesday.

She added: "This is the only place we have known. The maize has been harvested but only to be kept in stores also vulnerable to destruction."

Majority in her neighbourhood are victims of past natural calamities that killed people and destroyed property in five villages in Timboiywo, Baringo County.

The residents who have lived in the area since Independence say despite the horrific past experiences, the Government has not moved them to a better place.

A few metres away is the house of Phillip Tarus, who is busy racing against time to ensure his half-acre maize field is harvested before the El Nino. He is also a survivor after his three-bedroom house and a cowshed were crushed in 2012.

Mr Tarus, who is a teacher, and his family were scheduled to shift into the newly constructed Sh3 million bungalow right at the foot of a rocky mountain but the midnight incident saw rocks and mud smash three-quarters of the house and submerge it.

He said although the Government collected data on families affected by the landslide, promises to compensate and assist them to return to normalcy was never fulfilled. "My family members are still psychologically disturbed and scared by the events of that fateful night and any news of El Nino has worsened the situation," he said.

The affected villages include Tunoiwo, Kipobilat, Kapsenet, Kabasis, Kaplop and Kapkorobo where a pupil was crushed to death in 2012.

The county government wants all land owners to stop cultivating their farms, saying this could aggravate the problem. But this has not been received well by the residents who say it will threaten food security.

Governor Benjamin Cheboi assured the residents that his government has set aside more than Sh70 million in readiness for the rains.