Floods: Change tack in disaster response

Ibrahim Sheikh Mohamud. [File, Standard]

In the face of heavy rains currently pounding the country, the government is once again fumbling for solutions. The alarm bells have rang. We find ourselves in the same situation every time floods strike.

Four family members perished in Marakwet East in a landslide while in Kitui, a similar number died when a car was swept away at Mutindi River. Mostly in the red, according to Kenya Red Cross Society, were parts of North Eastern, Coastal, Central and Western regions. Shockingly, the script is the same. Each year floods strike, an appeal is tossed, a fund hurriedly set up and the state assures people that everything is in control.