Saturday October 20, 2018
Residents living along River Tana were told on Friday to prepare for possible floods in coming days.
Garissa National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) coordinator Abdinoor Dubow warned residents to get ready for heavy rains and possible floods. He spoke to the press in Garissa Town on Friday.
His announcement followed the national Meteorological Department report that several regions, including Northeastern, will receive heavy rains.Thousands of Garissa and Tana River residents living on River Tana suffered huge losses during the March-May floods.
Dubow said there were problems for aid agencies and national and county government in handling flood situations.
He called for an early meeting of stakeholders “to see what lessons were learnt and how we handled previous effects of the floods.”
Dubow said the meeting will help them determine what went wrong and how to improve coordination, information-sharing and dissemination, as well as assistance.
National exam centres might be flooded and storage and transport of exam materials must be ensured, he said,
Dubow said the health department should start thinking of stocking drugs and vaccines in case waterborne diseases break out.
The areas that will be most affected by the rain include Nyanza, Western, Central, Eastern, North Rift, Northeastern and the Coast. Nairobi and Machakos will also receive more rain.
The Met said the rains were to start in the third week of this month.
Flood alerts may be issued in Tana River, Garissa, Kano plains and Budalang’i.
In August irrigation farmers faced huge losses after the River Tana changed course following April floods. Generators powering pumps were submerged and irrigation pipes were broken.
The worst-affected farms were in Nasra, Tawakal and Rahma, where commercial crops include mangoes, vegetables, bananas and water melons are grown.
They withered due to lack of water.
Most farmers were victims of past droughts and thought irrigation would ensure a steady livelihood.
Jamal Duale, chairman of Tawakal farm, urged the county to build dykes to redirect the river to its original course.
Over the years, the river has changed course, leaving farmers desperate.