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Floods render over 3,000 Lamu residents homeless
Dide Waride Chief Abdi Bocha trying to access a flooded section of Chalaluma village in a dhow on April 29, 2018. KALUME KAZUNGU-NATION MEDIA GROUP LTD
What you need to know:
Most residents set up temporary shelters elsewhere after they were rendered homeless by floods after rivers Tana and Nyongoro broke their banks.
At Chalaluma Village, 287 families are now homeless after houses were swept by the floods.
The road from Chalaluma to Moa is currently impassable and the area can only be accessed by boats or choppers.
More than 3,000 Lamu residents have rendered homeless after their houses were swept away by floods.
Speaking to the Nation on Sunday, Lamu County Deputy Commissioner Louis Rono said the most affected areas are Chalaluma, Dide Waride, Moa, Nyongoro and Matabore villages.
Most residents set up temporary shelters elsewhere after they were rendered homeless by floods after rivers Tana and Nyongoro broke their banks.
Mr Rono said a team of national Government officers and the Red Cross Society Lamu Branch had been sent to the ground to assess the situation and offer aid to the affected.
At Chalaluma Village, 287 families are now homeless after houses were swept by the floods.
FLOODS
About 82 families, were also left homeless at Moa Village following the floods. In Dide Waride, more than 30 houses were by Sunday morning submerged in water.
The road from Chalaluma to Moa is currently impassable and the area can only be accessed by boats or choppers.
“The situation is worrying, at the moment we have over 287 affected households at Chalaluma and Dide Waride; more than 3,000 people are currently displaced by the floods,” said Mr Rono.
“We also have more than 82 families affected by the floods in Moa village; the national government and The Kenya Red Cross Society have assisted the victims with relief food including rice and beans and clean drinking water. The government will be distributing more relief supplies to the affected families on Tuesday,” said Mr Rono.
LIVESTOCK
At Matabore village, over 1,000 livestock have been marooned by the floods in a small island for over a week after River Tana broke its banks.
The small island is inhabited by fishermen and pastoralists. Residents say their livestock now risk being swept away by the floods.
“We want the government and well-wishers to intervene and help us rescue our livestock,” said Mr Roka Yusuf, a resident of the small island.
Dide Waride Chief Abdi Bocha called on well-wishers to assist the affected residents.
“I am worried more houses might be swept away by floods especially in Dide Waride and Chalaluma. Almost all the houses are surrounded by water and I am worried that there could be an outbreak of waterborne,” said Mr Bocha.
