Floods disrupt business, transport in Turkana

Business activities and transport in parts of Turkana were on Tuesday brought to a standstill following heavy rain.

Many roads were rendered impassable as rivers burst their banks.

Lodwar town was inaccessible after rivers Turkwel and Kawalase became flooded.

Students spent hours in school waiting for the water to subside to be able to walk home.

“Kawalase seasonal river is unpredictable. Today, I will not make it home. I will spend my night at friend’s home because I am unable to cross the river which is flooded following the heavy rain,” a Class Five pupil told the Star.

Jackson Ekai, a truck driver in Lodwar, said Kawalase seasonal river has a bad history of sweeping away lorries with goods when flooded.

“For many years, Kawalase has swept trucks with goods, paralyzing transport from Kitale to South Sudan, sweeping livestock and putting lives of commuters at risk. I have to wait for more than five hours for water to subside before I cross,” he said.

Ekai urged the Chinese contractors to speedy up construction of Kawalase bridge to manage flooding.

Last month when Turkana experienced its first after drought, a truck driver and his five passengers narrowly escaped death when their vehicle was swept away by the swollen Kawalase River at Lodwar. The driver and passengers were rescued by divers.

The Chinese contractors building a bridge on Turkwel River are counting heavy losses as their underground foundation and materials worthy millions of shillings were destroyed by floods.

Rushing flood water forced traders in Lodwar market including fish sellers, grocers and fruit vendors to close down.

Shirleen Ekiru, a fish dealer, said her stock was swept away by the sudden floods.

“It’s long since it rained like today. We didn’t imagine it could cause huge losses to us. We came here to sell fish so that we can afford a meal and take our children to school, but today we are counting losses,” she said.

Ekiru has blamed the Turkana county government for poor planning of the market place located in a swampy place.

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