Action to assist thousands of flood victims

The Kenyan government and international emergency relief organisations have embarked on a programme to respond to the needs of victims of floods and landslides, which have left more than 50 people dead and thousands displaced, following heavy rains across the country.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday that the Kenyan government had activated its National Disaster Committee (NDC) and the district Disaster Management Committees, and dispatched teams of experts to the affected areas to assess the extent of the floods and the sanitary conditions of affected populations.

In a situation report released on Monday, OCHA said some 162,300 people affected by the floods urgently needed materials - mainly water-purification tablets, cholera kits and mosquito nets. The floods had inundated wells in many areas, leading to a shortage of clean water, it said.

"The floods are seen as the worst to hit the country since 1998, when the El Nino phenomenon struck the area," the OCHA report said. According to media reports, floods and landslides in Kenya have killed at least 53 people and displaced more than 150,000.

Although the Kenyan government had not officially appealed for international assistance, and its National Disaster Operation Centre was "coping" with the emergency, the international response to the emergency had been favourable, OCHA said.

Meanwhile, the NDC had chaired a meeting with the UN and some NGOs to coordinate relief operations, said the report. This resulted in the reactivation of the UN Disaster Management Team to support the government’s efforts to provide the affected population with relief.

Meanwhile, Oxfam-GB has disbursed about US $20,000 to help the health sector through the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF), according to OCHA. "The Kenyan government is coping with the emergency situation, which is currently within its capacity for response," the report said.

"It has been decided that the National Disaster Operations Centre will be the focal point for information, the government of Kenya the focal point for food distribution, UNICEF and AMREF the focal point for health, and KRCS [Kenya Red Cross] the focal point for operations in the field due to their extended network of volunteers," it added.

OCHA said unusually high temperatures over the Indian Ocean had been responsible for the heavy rains which wreaked havoc across Eastern Africa for the last 10 days, particularly in Kenya.

The rains around Mt Kenya have caused two mudslides in Central and Eastern provinces, where 15 people died, while torrential rains in the western district of Migori, bordering Lake Victoria and Tanzania, have caused the Kuja and Migori rivers to burst their banks, flooding many areas of the Nyanza Province, according to the report. Severe flooding has also been reported in the districts of Kisumu and Busia on the Lake Victoria littoral.

So far, the government has allocated a total of 117 mt of maize, 1,135 mt of beans and 3,750 litres of cooking oil to the affected districts, the KRCS supplied 200 blankets and 80 tarpaulins while the health ministry availed some drugs and mosquito nets, according to the OCHA report.
Local well-wishers donated some food, blankets and cash. An account has been opened locally to receive donations from various sources, according to OCHA.

Other agencies participating in the programme include World Vision, CARE and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

On Monday, the Federation released $1.04 million to enable KRCS to provide some 125,000 flood victims with shelter materials and emergency relief items.

In a statement released on Monday from its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the Federation said the KRCS had begun distributing emergency relief items, including clothing, blankets and tarpaulins, and was helping to evacuate flood victims.

Although the long rainy season, which usually runs from April to June, started a little late this year, more heavy rains are expected, and possibly more floods, landslides, loss of life and displacement of people, according to the Federation. It said KRCS volunteers were already active in the hardest-hit areas such as Migori, where some 13,000 people had been displaced.

"We call on sister Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, as well as other local and international donors, to support the Kenya Red Cross in its remarkable efforts to alleviate the suffering of fellow countrymen affected by this disaster," Françoise Le Goff, the head of the Federation’s regional delegation in Nairobi, said in the statement.