Five people have died in Migori following downpours.
A woman from Aroso Estate in Migori town and her two children aged two and nine died after a wall collapsed on them on Tuesday morning as it rained heavily. Their bodies were taken to St Joseph's Mission Hospital mortuary.
“We had a downpour during the night. The woman was found dead at dawn by neighbours after the wall collapsed at night. Her husband, a watchman, was on the night shift,” village elder Walter Nyambati said.
A Form 2 student from Ngege Mixed Secondary School was also buried on Tuesday. His body was recovered after he was swept away as he bathed in River Migori on Friday. The same day, a woman from Migori town drowned while crossing river Onyinjo. The search for her body is still on.
Floods have caused havoc in the region. Lake Victoria water levels have also risen. On Lake Victoria beaches in Nyatike constituency, especially Muhuru Bay, Lwanda Konyango and Kibro and Migingo Island, hundreds of families have been displaced after their houses were submerged and others washed offshore.
Muhuru Bay MCA Hevron Maira said piers, beach management offices, business premises and fish preservation centres have also been left in ruins.
"We have experienced flooding. Safe areas have seen water levels claim places by several metres, with waves being harder to navigate,” Maira said.
Many families in flood-prone areas of Oria in Uriri constituency, Nyora and Kabuto in Nyatike are camping in schools and churches after being displaced. The public health crisis and crowding in schools have raised fears of a cholera outbreak and Covid-19 spread.
(Edited by F'Orieny)
