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Kenya: Floods Displace Hundreds At the Coast
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The Nation (Nairobi)
28 March 2008
Posted to the web 28 March 2008
Pascal Mwandambo, Abdulswamad Ali And KNA
Nairobi
Floods have displaced hundreds of families and disrupted learning in five schools at the Coast.
The hardest hit areas were in Taita Taveta.
Residents have asked Special Programmes Minister Naomi Shaban - who is also the Taveta MP - to provide them with relief food and urge Government to improve drainage in the area.
Flooding in the area got worse after heavy rains in the Mt Kilimanjaro region of Northern Tanzania. The water from the mountain flows to Taveta.
And in Voi, Tanzania and Bondeni slum dwellers were moved to higher grounds after River Voi burst its banks. Their huts had earlier been swamped by the floods.
Over 200 houses were submerged in water including the Kimorogo chief's office. Residents whose houses were submerged told the Nation that they had lost everything they had, including chicken which were swept away.
Ms Mariam Morris said they had been suffering for two weeks due to floods. "We have lost all our food and we now depend on our relatives to bring us food," she said.
Most of the water was flowing from Holili area in Usambara mountains of Tanzania. About 2,000 people have been affected by the floods.
Administration officials in Taveta led by District Commissioner Mohammed Barre toured the affected areas on Wednesday and appealed for assistance.
Mr Barre said the displaced families were seeking shelter on higher grounds adding that the victims required relief among other basic needs. The DC said several acres of rice and maize ready for harvest had also been ruined.
Extensive damage
"Water flowing down the slopes of the mountain caused River Lumi to burst its banks leading to serious flooding and extensive damage to property in low-lying areas of the district," he said.
Among the worst hit schools was Abori primary, which was closed Thursday and more than 400 of its pupils sent home indefinitely after its buildings were submerged. Other affected schools included Lotima, Eldoro and Kimorigho.
At Eldoro Girls Secondary School, learning was continuing under difficult conditions due to flooding, according to the district education officer, Mr George Owuocha.
Mr Owuocha however said the closed schools would be reopened once the water subsides.
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The official called for a permanent solution to the perennial problem of flooding in the area.
An ACK church, a chief's camp and grazing fields were also swamped. Last week, seven cattle were struck dead by lightening in the area.
A Ministry of Special Programmes official, Mr Parkolwa Mustafa, said Sh1 million was urgently needed to rehabilitate a drainage canal to control the flood menace in the area.
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