Writes Leo Odera Omolo
MORE than 10,000 people have been displaced and 40 killed as heavy rains wreak havoc across the full length and with of the country leaving the trails of deaths.
Property and crops worth millions of shilling have been destroyed, and the government has confirmed that some people were still missing while close to 50 people have been injured in various parts of the country.
In the Nandi Hills region hundred of acres of tea farms have been destroyed by hailstorm. Before the arrival of the long rains, the tea plantations in this particular region had suffered heavy damages inflicted by frost.
By yesterday both small and large scale tea farmers in the Nandi Hills area were still counting their losses, which experts says would runs into million o shillings.
Nandi Hills is one of the regions in Western Kenya where tea is grown in abundance. With close to ten large scale tea plantations and eight green tea leaves processing factories, the region is only second to Kericho and Bomet Counties in tea production.
The chairman of the small scale growers and empowerment project Wilson Tuwei told this writer hat the rain come at a time when farmers are starting to recover from the devastating effect of the frost bite destroyed that destroyed thousands of acres a month ago.
He added that the weather has dealt a major blow to the crop, one of the leading Kenya’s exports. Tea plantations in area like Nandi Hills, Kericho, Bomet and Sotik are threatened.
Heavy rains that re pounding moist parts of the country have caused the river’s water to rise between 2.8 and 3.2 meter raising fear among the residents of the flood prone regions that further swells in the water levels might overwhelm the dikes built by the government as the protective measures.
Four Kenyans have died as the result of lightning striking their homes during the late afternoon heavy downpour, while several rivers have burst their banks and flooded large areas and villages forcing the residents to flee their homes, most of which are submerged in the waters.
The rains have sent many people fleeing their submerged homes in the floods prone areas of Budalangi in Busia,Nyatike, Gwassi in Suba South district, Rangwe, Nyakach, Nyando and Kisumu.
The Western Provincial Commissioner Samuel Kilele on Wednesday held an emergency meeting with humanitarian agencies and other stakeholders in the region to discuss how to mitigate the effect of the possible flooding.
The P.C. disclosed that the Kenyan government through the Ministry of Special Programs has already bought and stocked it at the local stores of the National Cereal an Produce Board {NCPB} for emergency supplies to those who are at risk of being affected the floods.
The Permanent Secretary n the Ministry Andrew Mondo has appealed to Kenyans in floods prone regions and villages to move to the higher ground. He directed has appeal specifically to the residents of Budalangi, Kano Plains, Turkana, the capital city of Nairobi and its environs, Pokot,Baringo, Nyatike, Suba,Wareng,and the coastal Strip.
The flash floods, this time around has affected some areas which hitherto were previously considered to be safe. The areas include Teso North where 20 houses were destroyed and 15 cows swept away.
The flash flood waters have destroyed food crops in Marakwet district in the north Rift and for the second time in less than a week Narok town in the South Rift experienced the worse flood.
The incessant heavy rains have had adverse effect on tourist spots within Narok County. It has washed away many bridges on rural access roads and cut many places by way of damaging roads.
Motorists
A bridge linking Sondu and Ahero towns on the main Kisii –Kisumu road has been washed away forcing motorist heading to Kisumu from Kisii to divert to Kapsoit junction and then drove toward Awasi- Kisumu, which is consuming a lot of time.
Ends