Tana flood families cry out for food aid

Scores of families displaced by floods in Tana River county face food, water and health crisis at their temporary shelters. (READ: 15,000 flushed out of homes)

The most affected are women and children, according to aid workers. While children had been cut off from their schools, expectant mothers are not accessing medical help.

“We cannot take our babies to the clinic and we fear our young children might contract serious diseases,” said Ms Noor Maulani, one of the women at a Tana Delta camp.

She said some women had delivered in the camps in unhealthy conditions.

Kenya Red Cross provincial disaster management officer Sadiq Kakai said the families in 22 camps in the Tana Delta and Garsen did not have food and clean drinking water.

“We have been able to reach 17 of the 22 camps where we have supplied non-food items including mosquito nets, tarpaulins and aqua tabs for purifying water. If we could be provided with clean water then we would fetch it and distribute it to the residents,” he said.

Garsen division public health officer Arnold Maneno said the risk of waterborne disease had escalated.

“We are advising them to use clean water. The problem is that there are no toilets and people go to the bushes which not only contaminates water but it is also risky especially at night,” he said.

Kone Mansa chief Ware Buruno said Samicha, Odole and Mwanja villages were still under water, three weeks after the Tana River burst its banks.

Coast provincial commissioner Ernest Munyi said slightly more than 2,000 people had been displaced and the government had sent them 700 bags of rice and soya beans.

“We only have 2,400 people displaced by floods and they have moved to 24 camps. The Kenya Red Cross has assisted them with food items,” Mr Munyi told the Nation.

He said the government was monitoring the situation and would release more relief supplies on a need-to-be basis. Mr Munyi asked the displaced families not to return to the lowlands.

“There is no purpose of living by river banks. They should set up permanent villages where they have now relocated. They should use the river banks for farming and livestock keeping and end the culture of relying on relief food whenever they are displaced,” said the PC.

Separately, Special Programmes permanent secretary Andrew Mondoh said his ministry had no emergency food supplies for flood victims.

“We don’t have immediate urgent supplies to send to them apart from the normal relief food we send on monthly basis to all districts across the country. We are in the process of sending relief supplies for this month to all districts including Tana River,” he added.