Nairobi — The deaths and destruction of property over the Christmas weekend in some parts of the country following unexpected rains is an unfortunate indicator of how poorly prepared we are to cope with a full-bodied El Nino.

The havoc started in parts of Nairobi on Wednesday night and continued with the death of four people in Kajiado on Christmas Day. And as we continue in our nonchalant ways, nobody can tell where the tragedy will hit next, or even its magnitude.

Also accompanying the loss of lives was massive overflow of sewage both within the city and its environs, a factor that could lead to a fresh outbreak of cholera and other water-borne diseases.

Despite the deluge in the city, much of the water has long flowed into streams and rivers or even found its way into the ocean while city residents continue to face water shortages.

In the last three months, Kenyans have been anxious, nay worried, that they would not receive enough rains to cover up for the long drought, severe water shortages and inadequate rains experienced in the last four seasons.

In fact, some farmers went to the extent of threatening to sue the Meteorological Department for making the wrong forecasts, thus occasioning them great loss.

But, it is really the government which should be sued, and this for a good reason. Having been warned months earlier of a possible deluge, the government and local authorities assured the public that measures had been taken to deal with such an eventuality.

However, the happenings of the last few days indicate clearly that these assurances were completely empty. So far what has happened is no more than a dress rehearsal and we should be very afraid of what would happen should a full El Nino really happen.

Maybe it is a blessing that the rains have not fallen as heavily as we had been promised.