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The Kenyan authorities and relief organisations have launched an emergency programme to assist thousands of people who have been displaced by severe flooding in the eastern part of the country.
A senior official at the UN Disaster Prevention, Management and Coordination Unit for Kenya told IRIN on Thursday that the floods had killed at least five people and displaced some 3,000 people in the Madogo division of Tana River district.
The Kenyan government, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Kenya Red Cross Society, and the Catholic Diocese met on Wednesday to plan an emergency intervention in the area, according to the official.
The official said the affected population had already received temporary shelter, and would be given land, food, medicines and tents or tarpaulins as temporary shelter. "The displaced people have been accommodated at the social hall and the secondary school. A site has been found where the displaced people are to be relocated," the official said.
It is the second time this year that the region has suffered severe flooding. In May, floods associated with the long rains season hit the area, displacing an estimated 20,000 people.
This time, however, the floods are a result of water coming from the highlands, where seasonal rivers are releasing a lot of water due to the October short rains, according to the Catholic relief organisation CARITAS.
Most of those displaced have lost their food stocks and non-food items, while most crops planted during the short rains have been submerged in water, a CARITAS report said.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
