Ministry takes stock as heavy rains hinder reopening of schools

County directors of education have been instructed to liaise with county commissioners to assess the flooding situation in the country.

Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said an assessment will enable them to effectively make decisions on school reopening dates.

On Monday, it emerged that several schools will not reopen due to flooding.

Meanwhile, Mombasa and Kilifi residents are likely to stay without water after flood completely submerged three wells at the main supply station in Baricho, Kilifi County. Coast Water Services Board chief executive officer Jacob Torutt and Mombasa deputy governor William Kingi said the ongoing heavy rains have caused River Sabaki where the three pumps are stationed, to swell, leading to the closure of the plant on Wednesday last week.

COAST RESIDENTS

Separately, more than 7,000 Coast residents affected by the raging floods in Tana River and Lamu counties have refused to vacate from their homes to safer areas. In Tana River County, the more than 5,000 residents defied a government order for fear that their land will be grabbed once they leave.

The worst-hit areas include Onkolde where more than 3,500 people have refused to leave their village despite an offer by the government to relocate them to a safer place.

“They are in flooded areas, but they have refused to vacate. The residents claim that the village was their ancestral land and they were mandated to safeguard it,” said Tana River deputy county commissioner Michael Kioni.

He added: “They said they are at peace and fear they might get into fights with their neighbours in case they leave their villages. Some 2,000 others in Mwangaza and Laza Mtoni have refused to move to safer areas, saying the land is fertile and they would lose it to grabbers.”

SUICIDE

However, he warned that those risking their lives will be arrested for attempted suicide.

Lamu County Red Cross Society coordinator Kauthar Alwy said many people who live in areas vulnerable to flooding, especially in Chalaluma and Dide Waride, have refused to heed calls to move to safer areas. She warned that such actions are risky and deadly.

Floods death toll in Tana River has risen to nine after the body of an elderly man was yesterday found floating towards Madogo town.

County police commander Walter Aliwa told the Nation that the man might have drowned elsewhere.

Humanitarian organisations, counties and the national government are helping flood victims in Kilifi, Tana River and Lamu counties. So far, more than 159,000 have been displaced from their homes by floods.

Nagele Primary School in Witu division, Lamu West, has been established as a temporary camp for flood victims in the county.

HOMELESS

By Sunday, more than 3,000 people had been rendered homeless after their houses were swept away by floods in Chalaluma, Dide Waride, Moa and Matabore villages in Lamu.

The floods are as a result of the bursting of the banks of rivers Tana and Nyongoro. Most of the affected villages closely border the two rivers.

In Kilifi, the county government is planning to relocate about 6,000 flood victims that have camped in schools at Madunguni, Garashi, Kakuyuni and Sungwaya.

The county’s devolution minister Rachael Musyoki said they are planning to relocate the victims to churches and schools with big playgrounds by tomorrow in order to allow the schools to reopen.

“We will relocate them to those places since they have social amenities such as toilets, water and grounds where they can erect tents,” she said.

RESCUE TEAMS

In Mombasa, the county government has set up rescue teams and disaster management centres in various sub-counties with special attention to areas prone to flooding.

“We have activated the Disaster Management Committee to carry out an operation to mitigate the effects of the heavy rains. We will ensure normality in flood hotspots, smooth drainage of water and curb waterborne diseases,” said a statement.

In Kiambu, an estimated 100 families in Ndeiya also defied a directive by the government to vacate from a wetland. The residents of Nderu village, and whose houses are partially submerged in flood water, are reported to have refused to heed an order by the area’s assistant county commissioner to leave the site due to safety concerns.

According to area chief James Mwaura, the land which is seasonally saturated with water, was illegally allocated to the families by a politician during the 2013 campaigns.

FLOOD VICTIMS

In Garissa and Nyeri counties, hundreds of flood victims are seeking shelter at various primary schools including Hyuga Girls, Kazuko, Tumaini, Tetu and Iftin.

On Saturday, the Garissa County government distributed food and non-food items to the  victims.

Meanwhile, Mwingi Central MP has called upon the national government to help the families of four people who are believed to have drowned at River Enziu in Nuu, Mwingi East Sub-County, Kitui County, to locate their loved ones. The families said the four have been stuck in the river for two weeks.

Four people, a driver and three passengers, are said to have gone missing after the car they were in was swept away by the swollen river and since then efforts to recover their bodies have been undermined by lack of experts. Another body of a boy, who is a student at Machakos Boys High School, is also stuck at a ditch downstream.