The Kenya Red Cross said on Friday it was spearheading relief efforts for thousands of people displaced by flash floods, which also claimed eight lives in the past three days in Isiolo District, Eastern Province.
"Our priority is people who lost everything," Abdikadir Ali, the secretary of the Isiolo branch of the Kenya Red Cross, said.
He said the floods destroyed at least 355 homes, with the affected families losing all their household goods, food, clothes, cooking utensils, bedding and furniture.
Shukri Mohamed, one of the displaced now living a camp in the Alharamain centre at Kambi Garba, two kilometres from Isiolo town, said: "I lost everything; we have been given food but nothing to cover our children with or cook the food. We need firewood or charcoal to cook and keep us warm. We also need mosquito nets, drugs and mattresses."
He was preparing to take his children to the Isiolo District Hospital after they developed pneumonia from sleeping on the floor without any bedding.
The floods washed away Mohamed's two-room mud-walled home.
Ali said the worst-affected 1,541 people were receiving help at temporary camps in Alfalah, Alharamain and at the Catholic Parish Centre.
"The others whose houses were damaged but who managed to recover a few items are also being assisted although some of them have returned to their homes and others are staying with friends and relatives," he said.
Ali added that the displaced had so far received food, blankets and tents donated by the government and the Kenya Red Cross. The Isiolo County Council and the Isiolo Catholic Diocese had donated 500,000 Kenya shillings (US$6,900).
An initial assessment by humanitarian workers indicated that the floods also displaced at least 5,000 residents of Kulamawe, Bullapesa, BullaArera, Juakali, Kambiodha, Kambibulle, Kabigarbaa and Kabiwacho villages. However, they could not determine the extent of the flood-induced destruction.
However, a councillor in the Isiolo County Council, Mohamed Sheikh, said: "The people affected need urgent assistance; they will never recover unless they get help to rebuild their homes. It is the worst disaster to hit Isiolo."
He added that the displaced were all low-income earners, without reliable sources of income.
Residents of at least eight villages on the outskirts of Isiolo town were left homeless after heavy rains pounded the area in the past week – after two years of severe drought.
Among the dead were a woman and her two children at Kulamawe village, whose home was swept away by the floods as they slept on Wednesday night. Two other people died in similar circumstances at Bullapesa village and three men drowned as they attempted to cross a flooded stream.
Joseph Samal of the Isiolo Catholic Mission expressed concern about possible outbreaks of waterborne diseases and malaria, saying the floods had damaged pit latrines, which could contaminate drinking water, and that those affected were exposed to the malaria-causing mosquitoes as they lacked bed nets.
Mohamed Patel of the Isiolo Recovery Group said the displaced were shocked and traumatised after losing their homes and other property.
"They need counselling, apart from material assistance," he said. "Some took loans to purchase household goods and put up the houses which have been washed away by the floods."
Meanwhile, the local district education office said on Friday that up to 500 pupils had missed school in the past two days after their homes were washed away or destroyed.
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"Our priority is people who lost everything," Abdikadir Ali, the secretary of the Isiolo branch of the Kenya Red Cross, said.
He said the floods destroyed at least 355 homes, with the affected families losing all their household goods, food, clothes, cooking utensils, bedding and furniture.
Shukri Mohamed, one of the displaced now living a camp in the Alharamain centre at Kambi Garba, two kilometres from Isiolo town, said: "I lost everything; we have been given food but nothing to cover our children with or cook the food. We need firewood or charcoal to cook and keep us warm. We also need mosquito nets, drugs and mattresses."
He was preparing to take his children to the Isiolo District Hospital after they developed pneumonia from sleeping on the floor without any bedding.
The floods washed away Mohamed's two-room mud-walled home.
Ali said the worst-affected 1,541 people were receiving help at temporary camps in Alfalah, Alharamain and at the Catholic Parish Centre.
"The others whose houses were damaged but who managed to recover a few items are also being assisted although some of them have returned to their homes and others are staying with friends and relatives," he said.
Ali added that the displaced had so far received food, blankets and tents donated by the government and the Kenya Red Cross. The Isiolo County Council and the Isiolo Catholic Diocese had donated 500,000 Kenya shillings (US$6,900).
An initial assessment by humanitarian workers indicated that the floods also displaced at least 5,000 residents of Kulamawe, Bullapesa, BullaArera, Juakali, Kambiodha, Kambibulle, Kabigarbaa and Kabiwacho villages. However, they could not determine the extent of the flood-induced destruction.
However, a councillor in the Isiolo County Council, Mohamed Sheikh, said: "The people affected need urgent assistance; they will never recover unless they get help to rebuild their homes. It is the worst disaster to hit Isiolo."
He added that the displaced were all low-income earners, without reliable sources of income.
Residents of at least eight villages on the outskirts of Isiolo town were left homeless after heavy rains pounded the area in the past week – after two years of severe drought.
Among the dead were a woman and her two children at Kulamawe village, whose home was swept away by the floods as they slept on Wednesday night. Two other people died in similar circumstances at Bullapesa village and three men drowned as they attempted to cross a flooded stream.
Joseph Samal of the Isiolo Catholic Mission expressed concern about possible outbreaks of waterborne diseases and malaria, saying the floods had damaged pit latrines, which could contaminate drinking water, and that those affected were exposed to the malaria-causing mosquitoes as they lacked bed nets.
Mohamed Patel of the Isiolo Recovery Group said the displaced were shocked and traumatised after losing their homes and other property.
"They need counselling, apart from material assistance," he said. "Some took loans to purchase household goods and put up the houses which have been washed away by the floods."
Meanwhile, the local district education office said on Friday that up to 500 pupils had missed school in the past two days after their homes were washed away or destroyed.
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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
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