Anguish in village as floods ravage farms, houses forcing locals to flee
An abandoned home in Bondo sub~County, Siaya County. The floods have been caused by the backflow of Lake Sare following the ongoing heavy rains.
The loss is palpable, and the volume of destruction is immense. A pathway leads to a marshy canal that fades into a field of water.
No cars or motorcycles go past this point. Residents are forced to wade through the waters to get to what they once called homes – or home for those that are yet to move out of the area and who are holding onto the hope that the floodwaters will soon subside.
From afar, three young girls trudge through waist-high water, determined to make their way ‘home’ despite the floods.
With the eldest leading the way, her eyes fixed on the distant half-submerged house, the other two follow slowly but steadily.
The three are heading home to collect the half-damaged property following the heavy downpour that has rendered hundreds homeless in Siaya County.
With the absence of their mother, who is currently working in Nairobi, the three were staying with their grandmother before the floods came.
This is the magnitude of loss the residents of Urima area of Bondo, Siaya County have to contend with.
From a distance, the serenity of calm waters is deceivingly alluring but beneath it lies the homes, farms and businesses that have been abandoned.
As a result of the rains, the swollen Lake Sare has turned an area that was once a bustling community into an eerie, waterlogged wasteland.
A distressed Joan Nyamwadha looks at the water that has submerged all her home and the compound.
The 55-year-old widow said the immensity of the loss is unfathomable.
“I’ve lost hope. I watched helplessly as my property was submerged. My children and I have been forced to vacate our home for our safety. We left with nothing,” she told the Sunday Nation.
“The trees I planted some years back, which I was banking on to solve the issue of school fees for my children, have been submerged.”
Every rainy season, she said, brings new calamities. But this has been the worst she has had to witness. She supposes that completion of the construction of Lake Sare bridge connecting to Lake Victoria will be the panacea of their nightmares.
Lake Sare in western Kenya lies between the Yala Swamp and Lake Victoria and has potential as a site for restocking fish species that have become endangered in Lake Victoria, but the lake ecology is steadily degrading.
Just a few metres from her home is a desolated, abandoned homestead. Vincent Ouma, 30, says he has lost everything to the floods.
“I spent a lot of cash to purchase fertiliser and seeds. As you can see, my farm is flooded. My family now stays in a rental house at Ulowa market,” he said.
He estimates that there are about 30 displaced people living at Ulowa Market and nearby makeshift homes.
Apart from the floods, Mr Ouma says hippopotamuses have become a threat to the residents.
“Hippos roam around our houses, risking the lives of our children,” Mr Ouma said.
James Owigo, 27, is also counting massive losses following the floods. He told the Sunday Nation that instead of supplying them with relief food, the government should erect a bridge.
“Currently we don’t need relief food. We are past that. The government can help us permanently by building bridges which will connect Lake Sare to Lake Victoria. This will be a great solution,” he explained.
