- The pastoralists are currently staying between Minjila town and Garsen Junction and last Friday they received non-food items, food rations from the Red Cross.
- Tana River county government has also announced that it has been overwhelmed by the flood disaster that has displaced more than 10,000 families.
Image: ALPHONCE GARI
Tana River County has from time immemorial been facing perennial floods that normally lead to huge loss of lives and property for farmers and pastoralists.
This year alone farmers lost hundreds of acres of farm produce as floods came at a time when they were about to harvest the crops.
Pastoralists too were not left out, however, as of last week before their villages were marooned they fled out in large numbers with anything they could carry, saying they were moving out and never to return.
Garsen MP Ali Wario, who witnessed the movement pledged to help them rebuild their homes and live in their new locations permanently.
The pastoralists are currently staying between Minjila town and Garsen Junction and last Friday they received non-food items and food rations from the Kenya Red Cross Society.
Image: ALPHONCE GARI
Wario, however, called on the national government to allocate Sh5 billion for the resettlement of flood victims.
“We want a permanent settlement here because this area is not affected by floods, so we ask for help to be settled here(Minjila town and Garsen Junction), ” he said.
Omar Kuno a pastoralist from Bandi village said when they arrived at their new area on Thursday it rained the whole night but they were not marroned by water as the area is a higher ground and not prone to flooding.
However, Kuno said since they had not erected makeshift structures the children, women and the elderly were exposed to the harsh weather but luckily by evening, they got food and nonfood items, water and toilet kits from the Red Cross.
Mohamed Said a farmer nearly died after the canoe he was using to ferry some crops to Feji village capsized, however, he was lucky to be rescued by other farmers riding another canoe.
Kenya Red Cross Society regional manager in charge of Coast Hassan Musa said the situation is worsening each day and asked those still in flooded areas to vacate and move to higher grounds.
“The problem is that most of the farms have been submerged now so people have lost their property including crops and the ability to plant new crops,” he said.
Musa said there is also a looming health crisis as the residents consume the flood waters which may lead to waterborne diseases.
“If the situation worsens government helicopters and suitable boats may be required to rescue those surrounded by the waters as there are areas which are inaccessible,” he said.
He appealed to donors and well-wishers to come to the aid of the flood victims as they are in dire need of help adding that currently they are working together with the county and national government to help the needy but more aid is still needed.
Tana River county government has also announced that it has been overwhelmed by the flood disaster that has displaced more than 10,000 families and cut off villages following the ongoing El Nino rains.
Governor Dhadho Godhana while confirming that his County had received Sh550 million from the national government for El Nino said there is an urgent need for intervention to supply relief food to the villages that are cut off.
Addressing journalists in his office on Friday Godhana said they require at least two choppers (big ones) to drop relief to the inaccessible villages.
Image: ALPHONCE GARI
So far, he said Hola which is the county headquarters can only be accessed from Mombasa and it’s the only remaining route to access Tana River county by road.
He said Garissa, Nairobi, Wayu, Ijara, Masalani, Asa Kone, and Waldena among other routes are completely inaccessible and will soon run out of food supplies.
The majority of the villages he said rely on supplies from Hola but due to the inaccessibility in the next three days, there will be no food.
“We are getting overwhelmed two weeks after the rains began because now almost the whole of Tana is affected, we have a very big population displaced of course so we have so many IPD camps all over in Garsen, Galole, Bura Gale Derthu Bangale,” he said.
The governor said currently Tana North cannot be accessed from Garsen while Masalani is also not accessible as the bridge is submerged.
The only way to access Masalani he said was by chopper, boats or canoes adding that other areas inaccessible include Mahono, Nyangwani, and Dhiram, as they are cut off
Dhadho said in the TanaDelta subcounty, Asa Kone, Kone, Galana, and Matolani Hawewanje areas cannot be accessed by road.
“We have pockets of isolated villages all over because of the effect of seasonal streams," he said
He said the emergency disbursement from the national government will be used for emergency disaster response management.
Hassan Barissa the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Tana River county said they are worried because most of the roads are cut off and it's difficult for business people to transport goods.
What they fear most now he said is the failure of food or drugs to reach towns such as Hola, Garsen and Bura as they are now left with only one accessible route from Mombasa.
Barissa called on the national government and donors to urgently repair the roads to make the areas accessible as the situation was alarming.
Agnes Karia a businesswoman from Hola said the floods have affected them as most residents depend on stocks from Hola but they have not been able to reach Hola town so far.
Image: ALPHONCE GARI