By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
NAIROBI, Kenya — Some 30,000 people are in urgent need of shelter, water, food and healthcare after heavy rainfall caused massive flooding killing at least 21 people over parts of Kenya in the past two weeks and displacing thousands more.
The Kenya Red Cross (KRCS) on Tuesday called for help on behalf of families flooded out of their homes and in danger of waterborne disease. More than 70,000 people countrywide are at risk as they are said to reside in areas earmarked to suffer heavy rains.
Roads and bridges have been either destroyed or severely damaged, cutting off villagers and leaving them without food or potable water, putting them at risk of cholera and other waterborne diseases. The KRCS has begun trucking non-food items to Turkana and Nakuru in the northwest, where about 30,000 people have been affected in the past few days. The consignment includes blankets, jerry cans, mosquito nets, kitchen sets, soap and water treatment tablets.
These types of emergency activities are very expensive, said Abbas Gullet, KRCS Secretary-General. So far, the search and rescue activities have cost KRCS about KSh30 million (US$400,000), an amount sufficient to respond to the current needs but not if prolonged rains cause future damage, he added. “This has the potential of becoming an environmental disaster. We managed to address the immediate needs, but we need support to help our brothers and sisters,” Gullet told IRIN.
According to National Disaster Operation Centre (NDOC), the area most badly affected by the floods is the North Rift Valley region. In one district, Turkana East, five people died, five bridges were destroyed, many farms and households were damaged, while hundreds of head of livestock perished.
Megan Gilgan, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) chief of emergency, told IRIN: “We are concerned about recurrences of watery diarrhea and cholera in Lokori, East Turkana. The area already faced an unprecedented outbreak in the month of December and the situation could worsen now. We have emergency health kits available and water purification tablets for 30,000 people, enough supplies for a month.”
Floods are not common this time of year in Kenya. Meteorologists have blamed the unusual heavy rains on El Nino. El Nino is a periodic warming of the water in the tropical Pacific Ocean accompanied by changes in air pressure and winds that can affect weather worldwide.
For more information, please see:
IRIN – Disease Threat Follows Floods – 6 January 2010
http://allafrica.com/stories/201001060840.html
Capital News – After floods, disease stalks Kenyans – 5 January 2010
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/After-floods,-disease-stalks-Kenyans-6999.html
All Africa – Aid Appeal for Flood Victims Sent Out as Heavy Rains Forecast to Continue – 5 January 2010
http://allafrica.com/stories/201001050968.html
New York Times – 21 Drown in Floods in Kenya – 5 January 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/05/world/AP-AF-Kenya-Floods.html
