Five die as El Nino-like floods hit Kisumu

By Mangoa Mosota

Heavy rains pounded parts of Nyanza Province for the second time in 24 hours as flood-related death toll climbed to five.

The region braced for worse times ahead as the downpour appeared to be an early arrival of the predicted El Nino phenomenon.

Police yesterday confirmed four of the deaths had occurred in Kisumu on Sunday night while the fifth victim, a ten-year-old child, drowned in a swollen river in Migori.

Residents of Nyamasaria retrieve a body of a man who died in the floods. [PHOTOS: JAMES KEYI /STANDARD]

Nyando DC Isaiah Tonui said the Government was on high alert to assist families likely to be displaced as the torrential rains are predicted to continue.

Nyanza PC Francis Mutie said the Government was closely monitoring the situation. In some places families had started preparation to relocate to higher grounds.

From Nyatike on the Kenya-Tanzania border through Karachuonyo and Kano in Nyando to Siaya and Bondo, worried villagers have been staring into the sky for signs of rains in the flood-prone region.

Last month, the Kenya Metrological Department reported that Kenyans should brace for El Nino type of rainfall, although not as severe as the one that occurred ten years ago. The department predicts heavy storms, especially during the peak in November.

In areas like Kano and Nyando, dry weather and heavy rainfall are a menace. "It has not rained for the last three months, and as a result most of the crops have dried up," says Ernest Nyaidi, a retired civil servant.

Extreme cases

Nyaidi adds that crops such as vegetables have withered, and in some extreme cases dried up.

He says cabbages often thrive with fairly abundant rainfall, but the current drought hurt farmers.

"I am fortunate to have a piece of land uphill. If the El Nino rainfall comes, I will put up house on this parcel of land," Nyaidi, 61, says.

Reporting by Kepher Otieno, Winsley Masese, Nick Oluoch, Peter Atsiaya and Mangoa Mosota