There has been no relief from the flooding in Kenya as the rains continue, with the death told now standing at over 200. Officials say there are currently 164 people missing, with a total of 42,526 households that have been displaced, affecting over 210,000 people. The Interior Ministry says it has begun setting up camps in various parts of the country to host those displaced by the flooding.
In Kisumu County, near Lake Victoria, some of the displaced began receiving food aid. “We are dying from this lake, the lake water is killing us down here, when I take a look around I get tongue-tied,” says Mercelyne Atieno Anyanga, an elderly widow who forced out of her home by the flooding.
A woman hands out handfuls of grain to waiting people. The government is grappling with how to meet increased needs in the face of this humanitarian crisis, amid criticism that its response to the flooding has been inadequate. In Kisumu, the Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication, and Digital Economy, Eliud Owalo tells people that the government is assisting. “What we have done so far in response to those who are stranded is to provide helicopter services to evacuate people, those whose houses were marooned by water,” he says.
He adds that the government is also “providing short-term relief food support” so that those who are displaced can eat. “But long term, we’re going to ensure that we do desalting of the lake so that the water from the Nyando River can flow inwards to the lake as opposed to outwards towards the households,” he says. It drains into the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria and is a major contributor of sediment. The government has ordered people living near bodies of water that are either full or nearly full to evacuate or be forcefully moved. Water levels at two major hydroelectric dams have reached historic highs and the government has warned those living downstream along the Tana River.
