Floods: Send help before disaster strikes, Eric Omondi tells state

Comedian cum social activist Eric Omondi has drawn the government’s attention to the dire situation residents of Mangeli in Athi River have found themselves in following heavy flooding occasioned by nightlong rains.

He said families are staring at disaster after reports indicated that Athi River burst its banks Tuesday night, further compounding the flooding crisis.

Omondi, who’s been marshalling help for the needy online using the ‘Sisi kwa Sisi’ slogan, steered a search and rescue mission Tuesday night in flood-ravaged Athi River and Ruiru, where he helped evacuate several families stranded on rooftops.

“The Government of Kenya should rush to Mangeli Athi River before it’s too late. Disaster is about to strike. There are families stuck on the rooftops and time is ticking,” he said in a social media post.

The accompanying video showed Omondi helping move families to safer grounds on a makeshift boat at Ruiru’s OJ area.

He said among those rescued was a woman and her children but several other families were still stranded.

“We have saved 34 people today from 8.30 am to 11 am and there are still hundreds stuck with children and disaster could strike anytime,” he said.

His appeal came on a day Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja revealed that at least 60,000 people had been affected by the floods; four had drowned while six were missing following the devastating flash floods which hit the city Tuesday night.

The city boss said Kibra, Lindi, Mathare 4A and Mathare North, Baba Dogo, Githurai and Zimmerman were the worst affected.

Sakaja accompanied by a number of city MPs and local leadership toured several areas Wednesday morning “to see the extent of the flooding, and express solidarity with those affected” and said a large-scale county coordinated response operation would evacuate 3,000 people by the end of the day.

But even with the assurance and all its efforts, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna told the Senate that the county government was overwhelmed by the humanitarian crisis occasioned by the floods and needed help from the national government.

“I'm speaking to this house on a very difficult day for the people of Nairobi. As we speak right now, many of our people are marooned in their homes. I have seen videos of people on rooftops; some homes have been swept away, and roads swept away.

“At this particular point in time, we want to acknowledge that the county of Nairobi for all its efforts is overwhelmed and we would want to be asking and urging the national government and all the national emergency services to be mobilised to save lives,” he said.

Omondi blamed the flooding crisis on the national government accusing it of having misplaced priorities “while people are dying”.

“Sisi kwa Sisi will stand in the gap,” he said.