Preventing disaster better than reacting to it

The warning of impending El Nino-induced rainfall has been with us for quite a while now and the deluge that threatened to drown out several parts of the country this past weekend should have been less of a surprise than confirmation of a vastly improved and proactive Kenya Meteorological Department.

The emergency response should therefore have been co-ordinated like the legendary Swiss watch and ruthless efficiency associated with Germans, worker bees and ants. And coming in the same week that superstorm Hurricane Sandy battered the eastern United States into an estimated $450 billion worth of damage, the comparisons in disaster preparedness show a marked lack of planning.