The return of rain to the Coast region is a mixed blessing
Kenya Red Cross Society volunteers assessing a house that has been marooned by floods at Msengoni area in Taita Taveta County. Over 1,100 people have been displaced by floods in Taveta and Voi areas.
The return of rains to the Coast has come with mixed fortunes for the region, which is now dealing with flash floods after a prolonged drought.
Kwale, Kilifi, Tana River and Taita Taveta counties recently hit the headlines with reports of hunger-related livestock deaths and cases of human-wildlife conflicts followed by appeals for food aid.
During droughts, crops fail and livestock die for lack of water and pasture.
When the rains come, thousands are at the mercy of flash floods.
This has become a common cycle in counties listed among the arid and semi-arid areas by the national government.
In Kwale, flash floods were reported on Monday.
The bodies of two children who drowned in the River Mwache in Kwale on Monday were retrieved, and divers were still searching for a missing third child.
The children were in a group of five swept away by raging waters after heavy downpours in the area for the past three days.
In the incident, two children were rescued and three drowned while trying to cross the flooded river, said area Chief Benson Kokoi.
A man is helped salvage some of his household items from his house at Msengoni area in Taita Taveta County.
In Taita Taveta, at least 1,100 people were displaced and property worth millions of shillings destroyed in Voi and Taveta sub-counties following heavy rains in the area and in neighbouring Tanzania.
Pastoralists in Mata village are also counting losses after some 1,500 livestock were swept away by flash floods and with them, the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people.
The floods that mainly originated in Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania also affected thousands of acres of farms in Taveta.
Rains also damaged infrastructure in some parts of the county, with roads rendered impassable and culverts and bridges destroyed.
Before the onset of the rainy season late last month, Taita Taveta was one of the counties heavily affected by drought.
For the previous nine months, the county suffered a prolonged drought that saw an increase in cases of human-wildlife conflict.
Over 20,000 residents were in dire need of food aid and dozens of elephants from neighbouring Tsavo National Park and ranches invaded residential areas in search of water and pasture.
Motorists wade through a flooded sectio of a road in Tudor, Mombasa County on December 13, 2021.
The onset of the rains after the adverse drought brought joy to residents but their relief was short-lived as the realities of the impact of climate change sank in.
The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) listed Msengoni, Wanganga, Mnaonyi, Mata, Mboghonyi and Ore as areas heavily affected by floods.
KRCS Taita Taveta coordinator Joram Oranga said more worrying was that the projected floods could threaten food production and worsen food shortages in the region.
Some 172 homes in Taveta sub-county, he said, were submerged in water, forcing the families to flee for safety.
“These are the families whose houses were destroyed by the floods. The rest received help from our partners including World Vision and the county government,” he said.
As this happens, Kenya’s Meteorological Department has warned about more rainfall over the next one week.
Weather forecasts include rainfall continuing over the highlands east of the Rift Valley, the south-eastern lowlands, the Coast, parts of the highlands west of the Rift Valley, the Lake Victoria basin, central and south Rift Valley and the northeast.
Occasional isolated storms are also expected in areas such as parts of Kitui, Makueni and Taita-Taveta, Lamu and Kilifi counties.
In Taveta, the region's breadbasket, rains have threatened this year’s harvest as farmers cannot work their farms due to floods.
Farmers who spoke to the Nation said that although the rains had contained the drought that left many staring at hunger, the floods would harm crops.
Some farmers in Kitobo are counting losses after the Njoro canal broke its banks due to heavy rains.
"We cannot access our farms because they are covered by water," said Jacob Mwangangi.
County meteorology director Robinson Asira called on farmers to consider planting drought-tolerant crops to avoid food scarcity after the short rains.
He said forecasters were working with the Department of Agriculture to relay weather patterns to farmers.
"In the first week of January, we will experience occasional rains. That is why farmers are advised to plant quick-maturing crops," he said.
