Man swept away in raging floods

A man died as heavy rains continued to pound Nakuru Town and its environs while five people are feared dead after floods swept away two villages in Garbatula District.

The 40-year-old was swept away as he tried to cross the swollen River Ndarugu, while a pupil at Muslim Primary School narrowly escaped death after he was dragged away by the floods.

Residents pulled the pupil out of the water and rushed him to the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital. The five herders have been missing since the swollen River Ewaso Nyiro burst its banks on Thursday, flooding the lower basins around Gaffarsa and Malka Daka, in Isiolo.

Archers Post and tourist lodges in the expansive Samburu and Shaba national reserves in Samburu East District were also flooded. Villagers told Kenya Red Cross officials that the five herders were swept away from a makeshift shelter they had erected a few days before floods hit.

“Our volunteers in Gafarsa reported that three men and two women have been missing since Thursday and are feared to have been swept away by the raging Ewaso Nyiro waters,” Isiolo Red Cross coordinator Mugambi Gitonga told Nation. Garbatula DC Joseph Onyango would not confirm the reports, saying he was away in Isiolo.

Counting losses

On Friday, hoteliers in the Samburu national reserve were counting their losses after the flood waters subsided. Three lodges, Intrepid, Larsens and Serena have been closed and more than 150 workers sent home.

The early morning floods caught tourists and workers unawares and it took the combined efforts of the Kenya Air Force, Army, Police and British Army, which is training in the area, to rescue 39 tourists and hundreds of workers.