The dilemma of fleeing floods or saving crops

From under the eaves of her hut on the banks of the mighty River Tana, Mama Halima Abashono casts furtive glances across the rising waters surrounding her home.

Her husband is yet to return since mid-morning, when he ferried the family’s five goats to safety across the flooded expanse that used to be farmlands.

Her worry stems from the fact that he still has several other trips to make; one with their five children and another with the family’s chicken and household goods. The small canoe can only take a limited number of people at a time, yet the waters are rising steadily.

After watching the water pouring into their farm, gradually submerging everything around their home, the family is ready to take off and join 40 others from Hafeji Village that left earlier after the river broke its banks at two points.

Reluctant to go

Mama Abashono and her family have been reluctant to go away because of the field of ripening maize, a banana plantation and a variety of vegetables they planted months ago, some of which are ready to be harvested.

“We did not expect the water to come in so fast. We will cross as soon as my husband returns with the canoe,” she says.

The Tana is Kenya’s longest river, flowing over a distance of 708 kilometres from its source in the Aberdare Range and Mount Kenya to the Indian Ocean.

Along the way, it helps to generate most of Kenya’s electricity. But its frequent destruction in the Tana Delta during heavy rains has led many to ask the government to get a permanent solution.

One of the suggestions is that KenGen builds more dams to act as reservoirs of excess water during the rainy seasons. The same water could be released into the main power generation dams during droughts, to sustain power output.

Annual torture

“Something has to be done to protect us from this annual torture,” says Mr Haji Guyo, a youth leader who also chairs the Community Development  Committee in Galilee Location of Tana Delta District.

He says the flooding not only disrupts livelihoods, but is fast becoming a major threat to the nearby Mombasa-Lamu road.

A village elder in Danisa, Mr Omar Shobe, sums up the locals’ feelings: “We are not blaming River Tana for anything. Let KenGen build more dams for the excess water instead of releasing it on us, knowing the suffering it causes.”

At Danisa “A” Village, Mama Abdia Nyangu bites her fingernails as she contemplates the fate of her lush field of maize on the banks of the swollen river.

Ominous signs of the dangers the river poses to her farm are evident. A portion of the land has crumbled after persistent pummelling by the fast-moving waters. The sight of a herd of hippos frolicking nearby is not comforting either.

Her mind is on what will become of her family once the farm, which is their source of livelihood, is flooded and the yet-to-mature maize crop washed away.

“This is our food and if the water continues to rise, it will all be carried away. I do not know what my family will eat if that happens,” she says sadly.

She is not alone. Hundreds of other families in the Tana Delta are facing a dilemma after the government sounded an alert on the imminent floods and asked residents to move to higher ground. What this means is that they have to leave behind their farms with all their crop, some of it ready for harvest,  and any other investments they have.

The warning issued last week through the office of Government Spokesman Alfred Mutua followed a rise in water levels at the country’s power generation dams upstream, after weeks of heavy rains in the river’s catchment areas.

When the dams are full, KenGen, the parastatal charged with running the country’s hydro-power dams, opens the sluice gates and allows excess water to flow down the river.

Mzee Boya Maro Mugawo, another resident of the delta area, says though the alert was well-intentioned, the families could not be expected to make an immediate dash for safety due to their investment in the farms.

“I have everything that I have worked for here. It has taken me a lot to make this farm what it is now, providing not only food, but money for paying school fees for my children. I cannot just leave it,” he says.

His two wives

Mzee Mugawo says he is reluctant to move his two wives and 14 children to another area as all they are likely to experience there is suffering.

“It is not proper for me to rush them to camps as I know how difficult life is there. I will wait and see what happens then make an appropriate decision.”

Tana Delta district commissioner Alias Gitonga Kithaura says measures are in place to ensure people displaced by the floods are assisted.

Besides food and non-food relief supplies such as tents, drugs, water and blankets, disaster teams are on stand-by to help those affected.

As the Nation team waves goodbye, Mzee Mugawo wishes them a safe trip: “Go well and pray for us.”

However, looking at the River Tana’s raging waters, it is clear that the villagers need more than prayers to get by.