Kenya has lost 285 lives since the onset of long rains in April, Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa has said.
Wamalwa on Wednesday said the number had increased from 256 last week due to floods, landslides and mudslides.
According to the CS, 810,655 people have been affected, compared to 161,000 last week.
Wamalwa said a total of 33 counties have been affected with massive crop and animal loss.
Though the CS said the government will continue to support the affected families in terms of provision of relief food and other basic essentials, he said a time has come for Kenyans to take weather alerts seriously to avert loss of life in future.
“Going forward we must as a country strive to improve on our response to weather alerts. We must take them seriously,” he said.
The CS added, “It is sad that in the affected areas in West Pokot and Elgeyo Mrakwet, our experts issued warning alerts in good time but residents did not respond”.
Wamalwa said through Red Cross, the government has so far established 225 houses for families that had been affected by the floods.
“It is worth noting that our weather experts have indicated the rains are going to subsidise in the coming days. Already we have seen the volume of dams stabilise and we hope the situation is going to stabilize soon,” the CS said.
While warning those living close to rivers and to the areas prone to mudslides and landslides to be cautious, Wamalwa said some areas like Westyern, Nyanza and Coastal regions will continue to experience rains going into June.
Garissa and Mandera counties in the northern region have been badly affected by the floods.
Tana River area has also been affected in the coastal region.The CS said that Lake Victoria has been largely affected and the water levels keep rising due to the ongoing rain.
