Families stranded as floods maroon 11 villages in Tana River

Residents at Furaha village in Tana north sub county left homeless after River Tana burst its bank in 2021. [File, Standard] 

Hundreds of families are stranded after floods marooned at least 11 villages in Tana Delta, Tana River county.

The affected families said River Tana burst its banks on Sunday night following heavy rains pounding Mt Kenya region.

Water levels continued to rise with residents fearing for their lives. According to the Kenya Red Cross Society, the affected villages are Samicha, Kikomo, Semikaro, Odhole, Kone Masa, Nduru, Kipao, Onkolde, Oda, Ongonyo, and Chara.

Meanwhile, traders are counting losses after more than ten cargo trucks ferrying fresh produce got stuck due to the raging floods.

Traders who purchased watermelons from farms told journalists that lorries transporting the produce got stuck in villages affected by floods.

On Monday, farmers complained that traders were taking advantage of the situation to offer them low prices for watermelons. They are offered Sh10 per kilogram down from Sh25.

Farmers have resorted to using boats to transport produce upstream where they are loaded onto waiting trucks for onward transportation to Nairobi and other areas.

Farmers have been forced to share the cost of transport as the farms can only be accessed using boats.

Bonea Kone, a farmer from Kone Masa village incurred losses worth Sh500,000 after his 16-acre farm was destroyed by floods.

Ibrahim Mohamed and Ibrahim Komoro said their green grams and watermelons were washed away by floods.

Samuel Njenga and Esther Maina, said they spent Sh300,000 to buy fresh produce from farms in Odhole village and transportation.

Unfortunately, the lorry they were using got stuck in the village leaving them stranded.

Residents are calling on national and county governments to help them recover the stuck lorries.

Hassan Galgalo from Madingo village urged the Kenya Defense Forces, National Youth Service and Red Cross to intervene and offer them floating bridges for easy movement of farm produce.