Kisumu floods: 600 Kisumu families to spend third night in the cold

Over 600 families in Kisumu are likely to spend a third night in the cold after a downpour caused a local river to burst its banks rendering them homeless as flood waters swept their homes.

The residents of Kolwa Central said that they had been forced to flee their homes following flash floods after River Maenya burst its banks.

While the water level has subsided in some of the affected areas, the residents, who are still struggling to come to terms with the happenings, said they could not go back to their homes due to the damages caused by the flood waters.

Blank faces, houses at the verge of collapsing, soaked beddings, destroyed maize plantations   and distraught families barely describe the five villages affected by the flash floods.

At Ofunyu Jerusalem village, the Nation team met James Mwamu, one of the affected victims, airing out his household items destroyed during the downpour.

He says his children had moved to a relative’s home while he stayed behind to keep guard of the belongings.

“We had just retired to our beds when the raging waters found their way into our houses forcing us to flee,” said Mr Mwamu.

Had it not been for the heavy rains, Mr Mwamu says he would have been weeding his maize plantation.

After retiring to bed on Sunday, he had hoped to start weeding his maize farm the following morning with the hope of having a good harvest come July.

His plans were, however, never to materialised following the flash floods that left hundreds of residents displaced.

What he has left behind is a half destroyed muddy house, destroyed maize farms and some household belongings.

“Everything happened so fast. Most of us woke up with our houses already filled with water, there was no time to rescue anything,” he said.

The residents claim that their worries are that the damages may increase the rainy season has only begun.

Also affected were residents of Nyalenda, Nyamasaria and Manyatta.

According to a Kenya meteorological department report, the heavy rains which have been experienced in Rift Valley and Nairobi are expected to spread to the North Western Region and the Lake basin as from Tuesday April 25.

“The seasonal floods are caused by sand mining at the river banks which has created a passage for the water whenever the river is full,” claimed Mr Mwamu.

He said that while this is not the first time the village was experiencing floods, nobody had expected that the rains would have affected the villages to this extent.

Those who were in their houses had to leave in haste with fear of drowning while their properties left behind were destroyed by the raging waters.

According to the residents of Kolwa Central, the Sunday night flash floods left five villages submerged.

Compromised sanitation

“We are appealing to well-wishers and county officials to come to our rescue, most of us do not have beddings or even places to spend the night as we wait for the rains to subside,” said Ms Goreti Atieno, a resident.

The residents claim that the floods have compromised sanitation in the surroundings after some pit latrines collapsed.

They also said that the residents who have been spending nights in the cold do not have mosquito nets and clean water.

While Kisumu County treated and released the cholera patients last week all in stable conditions, the residents claim that the cases might recur due to compromised sanitation.

The area chief, Elijah Mumbo, said that the number of affected residents is likely to increase as they were still carrying on with the registration of victims.

He has appealed to relevant authorities to help with disiltation of River Maenya and opening of drainages to prevent future flood incidences.

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