It’s a national disaster as deluge of death sweeps villages

An aerial photo showing the aftermath of Patel Dam Tragedy at Solai in Subukia,Nakuru county on May 11,2018. [Kipsang Joseph/Standard]

?A hundred and fifty-nine, and counting.

This is the number of people who had lost their lives by Friday evening as heavy rains continue to pound the country, leaving in their wake a trail of death and destruction.

This is as Kenyans and the government struggle to grapple with the above average rainfall that has continued falling for two months straight after close to a decade of back to back droughts.

Data from the Red Cross shows more than 50,680 households, an estimated 271,000 people, have been displaced by floods across the country, a figure expected to increase to 280,000 by mid next week, based on projections of continued rainfall in flood-prone areas.

“The effect of the floods countrywide has now reached a proportion of national disaster and its severity will be seen when the rains are over,” Red Cross Secretary General Abas Gullet said.

“A majority of the families affected are the same ones who were affected by the drought, prior to these rains. It is a double tragedy and these communities have been rendered more vulnerable because of the cyclical disasters and their coping mechanisms are totally depleted,” he said.

At least 32 counties have been affected by the floods. Tana River remains the worst affected. Data form the Kenya Inter-Agency Rapid Assessment (Kira) completed on April 18, shows that 117 villages in the county had been affected: 53 in Tana Delta; 16 in Tana North; and 38 in Tana River Sub-county.

Of 12,809 directly affected households covered by the Kira, 11,950 are staying in camps or open areas, while 859 have sought shelter with host families and communities, at the mercy of the elements and always at risk of diseases.

Information from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, (Fewsnet) indicates that rainfall amounts received in March and April were quite significant, potentially hitting record highs in Isiolo, Tana River, Garissa, Marsabit, Wajir and Turkana, which were over 200 per cent of total seasonal average.

Hard hit

Surface water has damaged roads and bridges, cutting off access to settlements, markets, and health facilities. Tana River and Garissa counties have been particularly hard hit as the River Tana mercilessly and without warning burst its banks from the combination of heavy rains and the release of a dam overflow upstream, taking with it all that was within reach, engulfing entire settlements and gobbling up cropland.

Many schools such as Lotima primary school in Taveta Sub-county has been converted into isolated islands as they remain inaccessible to the pupils who run the risk of encountering crocodiles, snakes and dangerous debris as they wade or paddle through the storm waters to access their institutions.

Major economic activities have also ground to a halt. For instance, in Kaloleni constituency, major roads connecting three wards that are the heart of the county’s palm business were washed away.

Sections of the Chanagande-Chalani-Mtsengo road have been washed away. The road connects Kaloleni, Mwanamwinga and Kayafungo wards to Ganze Sub-county through Palakumi ward.

The government says it will take monumental effort to cushion adversely affected populations against the aftermath of the floods, with food security and disease expected to wreak havoc.

Yesterday, the state said it needs Sh18 billion to restore the infrastructure damaged by the rains and that this figure could go higher. The weatherman predicts the rainfall will continue over the next few days with varied intensity but disputes that the rains are above normal.

“It is a combination of factors. There are some areas where we have had continuous rainfall and in others it is an issue of bad drainage,” Peter Ambeje, the director Kenya Meteorological Services told Saturday Standard.

An analysis of data from the Meteorological department shows that Kenya’s mean annual rainfall has in the last seven years dropped gradually by 34 per cent from 1,024 mm in 2010 to a paltry 675 mm last year.

According to the data, last year was also the hottest on record with a mean annual temperature of 17.6 degrees centigrade, representing a four-degree centigrade increase in temperature over the last 10 years. The rise in temperature which coincides with a global increase has been blamed on among other things global warming, which is fueled by emission of greenhouse gases and environmental destruction.

The situation has been made worse by massive deforestation which has lengthened the drought periods while making the weather unpredictable. But even in this deluge, there’s a silver lining. The significant rains have driven substantial improvements in forage in pastoral areas and raised crop production prospects in marginal agricultural areas. In pastoral areas, livestock body conditions have markedly improved, increasing meat and milk availability and household income through livestock prices.

Crops are in good conditions in marginal agricultural areas such as Kitui, Makueni and Taita Taveta and at various stages of growth. Cropping activities range from planting to weeding and are providing wage labour opportunities and increasing household incomes.

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