Learn to manage floods

We spend half the year praying for rain; before having to moan the destructive effects of torrential downpours.

With the ongoing rains, at least 40 people have been killed and 60,000 displaced by floods in various parts of the country.

Storms have washed away houses and roads, destroyed crops in the fields, brought down telephone and electricity poles, and even disrupted air traffic.

We cannot pretend to ever have a solution to the forces of nature, but there is no denying that with proper planning the destruction could be minimised.

It is obvious, for instance, that lack of storm drainage is responsible for the floods that in a short time turn highways into raging rivers.

There are many instances, also, where housing estates, factories, and even entire towns have been established in low-lying ground that is guaranteed to turn into the veritable ocean with the first deluge.

And then there is the large scale human settlement in flood plains in some parts of western Kenya and the Coast; when we have not applied the technology to keep the waters away in the rainy season.

We surely ought not to be talking about Vison2030 when we cannot manage such elementary things.