• Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Marasbit, Samburu and Isiolo counties are the worst hit areas with floods.
•Ahmed highlighted that as Kenya receive more rains the situation is likely to get worse.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Kenya Red Cross has identified three counties to watch as Kenya continues to experience the impact of the ongoing El Niño rains.
Secretary General of Kenya Red Cross Idris Ahmed on Sunday said that the rains depending on the area, have different effects at different times.
"If you look at the weather forecast in the next two weeks, we shall have more concern in western Kenya, lake basin, south rift region," he said on Citizen TV.
Ahmed explained that the ongoing El Nino rains and its impacts, is quite a difficult situation for the country.
He noted that the current situation of the floods has affected about 29 counties in Kenya.
"As we speak now, the counties that are most affected in northern parts of the country are; Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Marasbit, Samburu, Isiolo but the spread is pretty much across the country," Ahmed noted.
The Red Cross SG also noted that on top of the radar were the rivers with rising water levels.
Ahmed highlighted that as Kenya receives more rain, the situation is likely to get worse.
"We have a situation where a number of rivers have been rising consistently for the last couple of weeks, River Tana is at an alarm stage and we also have River Nyando and River Ndhiwa," he added.
He explained that the current situation of floods was complex as there were people still lacking food and at the same time break out of diseases.
"We have a number of disease outbreaks including measles which is in eight counties. We also have a risk of cholera, and confirmed cases are in Garissa at the refugee camp. So it is a difficult situation," Ahmed said.
However, he emphasized that the government has all things on deck for interns of the responses including multi agencies team coordinated by the State who are responding to this situation.
Several families, he added, have been displaced in Northern Kenya and downstream in areas like the Tana River with efforts to document the missing persons, livestock and crops destroyed ongoing.
At least 14 people have been killed by flash floods in Northern Kenya while two drowned in two separate incidents following heavy rains in Nairobi as of November 10, 2023.
Meanwhile, hundreds of families in Windsor, Bulla Sheikh, Bulla Punda, Ziwani, Bakuyu in Garissa county and Mororo in Tana River county were forced out of their homes last night after river Tana broke its banks.