Somali refugees displaced as camps washed away

Two refugees have died after heavy rains drenched refugee camps in eastern Kenya, washing away thousands of shelters and affecting 78,000 people, mainly in Somali camps near Dadaab, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.

An estimated 90 percent of the 54,000 refugees in Ifo camp have been affected by the flooding, while in Dagahaley, 20 km from Dadaab, up to 80 percent of the camp's 37,000 residents may have lost most of their belongings and their homes.

"We are trying to move people who have been affected to drier places like schools where they can be given humanitarian assistance," Emmanuel Nyabera, the UNHCR spokesman in Kenya, said.

The flooding is a major setback to the resettlement of refugees who fled to Kenya in recent months to escape conflict in Somalia.

UNHCR said latrines in the refugee camps had either collapsed or were full of flood water, posing a serious health risk. "We are flying in assistance and also starting a mass information campaign on the risks of unsafe drinking water," Nyabera added.

On Monday, however, an assessment team failed to reach Dagahaley because roads leading to the distant camp became impassable.

The roads linking the two camps and the 90 km road between Daadab and Garissa, the provincial capital, were also blocked.

Aid workers fear that many of the most vulnerable refugees living in the camps, the old and the sick, may be stranded in their crumbling shelters.

The flooding, which resulted in some patients in Ifo hospital being moved from the worst-affected wards to other rooms, is likely to hinder the food distribution planned for Wednesday, Nyabera said.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 32,000 Somali refugees have fled to Kenya to escape conflict in southern and central Somalia, bringing the total population in Dadaab's three camps to about 160,000 people.

Meanwhile, the Kenya Red Cross (KRC) warned of possible flooding in parts of western Kenya.

"We are watching the situation in Budalangi and Nyanza very closely," Ahmed Abdi, KRC head of disaster management, said.

"It is still raining and these areas are likely to experience flooding soon."

Abdi said the number of people affected by flooding across the country had reached 100,000, including 50,000 in the coastal district of Kwale. "The situation is very bad and the risk of disease outbreaks is growing," he added.

A multi-sectoral team, consisting of the Kenyan government, NGOs and United Nations, has been set up coordinate the response to the situation.

The weather outlook for October-December from the Kenya Meteorological Department indicates that some parts of the country will experience above-average rains during this period, with a possibility of floods and landslides.

The frequent floods are blamed on rampant deforestation and changing climate patterns.

The loss of ground cover due to deforestation resulted in flash floods during heavy rainfall, according to Beneah Odhiambo, a professor of geography at Moi University in western Kenya.

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