As extreme flooding continues to devastate large parts of Kenya, Islamic Relief is providing thousands of affected families with cash to help them buy food and other essential items.
At least 169 people have been killed and more than 190,000 people displaced by the floods, which hit Kenya following extremely heavy rainfall. Mudslides have devastated villages and killed families, and at least 100 people remain missing.
Islamic Relief is appealing for more funds to provide life-saving aid such as food, cash, medicine, clean water and sanitation. So far Islamic Relief is responding through an existing project that provides cash to over 6,200 families in flood-affected counties in northeastern and coastal Kenya, including Garissa, Tana River, Wajir and Mandera. In coordination with local authorities, we also support boreholes that are providing flood-affected communities with clean water, which is essential as the risk of water-borne diseases increases after the floods.
Hassan Abdi Abdille, Islamic Relief's Country Director in Kenya, says: "People are extremely distressed and have lost loved ones, homes, possessions and livelihoods. This a tragedy for communities across the country and the situation is set to get even worse with rain still falling all day and night."
34 out of Kenya's 47 counties have been affected, causing severe damage to more than 27,700 acres of farmland and killing close to 5,000 livestock. Infrastructure has also been affected, with dams bursting or now at risk. There are at least 96 camps where displaced people have sought refuge.
Hassan Abdi Abdille continues: "Kenya is a country badly affected by climate change and disasters seem to be getting more frequent and severe. The needs are enormous, and the impact of these floods is much bigger than we've seen in the past. The Kenyan government didn't expect this level of flooding but has now set a disaster coordination response team composed of state and non-state actors. The floods have hit parts of the country that are not usually affected by flooding, and many areas were not prepared. Some lessons from previous crises have not been learned."
The flooding began in Kenya in late April and has left whole swathes of the country under water. The poorest areas of the capital city, Nairobi, have also been badly affected, with thousands of people displaced from the city.
As well as responding to the emergency, Islamic Relief is calling for greater long-term investment in restoring livelihoods, flood mitigation and locally-led climate adaptation strategies.
