The government has activated a multi-agency emergency response centre at Nyayo House to facilitate response interventions to floods across the country.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said all displaced households will be facilitated to find alternative settlement and in extreme cases, the National Youth Service will provide shelter to the most vulnerable.
“The government, under the leadership of President William Ruto, will do whatever it takes [and] will apply all the required resources in terms of money and personnel to make sure that lives are not lost and the people of Kenya are protected from this disaster,” the DP said.
The DP said as part of the response strategy, affected families will be provided with food and non-food items.
Gachagua spoke Thursday evening after chairing an emergency response meeting at State House, Nairobi, attended by members of the Cabinet and Nairobi county officials.
The development came hours after the Kenya Red Cross said floods have killed at least 45 people since March, including 10 since Monday.
Gachagua urged Kenyans to cooperate with the multi-agency team and to take personal responsibility of their safety as rains continue pounding several parts of the country.
He said the weather outlook for the next one week indicates that the country will receive above-normal rainfall and this calls for everyone to exercise caution while travelling and those in low lands to move to higher ground.
“Kenyans are requested to be careful and not to dare nature because it’s dangerous to do so,” he said.
“Daily, daily alerts will be issued to the people of Kenya to inform them of what is happening in areas where there is obvious danger,” the DP said.
He added that he will chair another meeting on Friday with the Committee on Disaster Response incorporating all stakeholders including development partners and humanitarian agencies.
The Meteorological Department on Thursday issued a heavy rains advisory starting Thursday to Sunday, April 28 and advised Kenyans to be on the lookout for potential floods and flash floods.
It said the heavy rains are likely to be accompanied with gusty winds, large ocean waves in the Indian Ocean and strong southerly winds in the eastern sector.
“The heavy rain is expected to intensify to more than 50mm in 24hrs in the Rift Valley, highlands West and East of the Rift Valley including Nairobi area, Southeast lowlands, Lake Victoria Basin and off the Coast,” the weatherman said.
He added that the intensity of the rains is expected to reduce beginning Sunday.
