The number of households affected by floods in Nyando and Kadibo areas in Kisumu County has risen to 4, 500 from1, 500 after River Nyando burst its banks following heavy rains.
Hundreds of families spent the night in the cold after water swept through their homes leaving behind a trail of destruction.
Acres of rice, maize sugarcane and other crops in the area have also been swept by the floods leaving victims counting losses.
At Ombaka in Nyando Sub-County, hundreds of residents were stranded with their household items on the road as they pondered their next move.
St. John Nyamasao Primary School, Ombaka Dispensary and Ogenya Primary school are some of the institutions submerged in water.
The situation was the same at Ogenya in Kadibo Sub-County where several homes have been marooned by floods.
Boat operators made a kill as they helped victims ferry some of the belongings from their marooned houses to safer grounds.
Kisumu Acting County Commissioner Hussein Alanson Hussein who led the County Disaster Management Committee team to assess the impact of the floods said more households were expected to be affected as the rains continue.
Evacuation centers, he said, have been established at Ombaka and Ogenya to house the affected victims as efforts to get humanitarian assistance continue.
He asked all people living in the affected areas to move to safe grounds and the evacuation centers to avert loss of lives.
“There is still more rain and we want people living along River Nyando to move to higher grounds for safety purposes,” he said.
Hussein said the county team was in communication with the National Disaster Management Unit with officers from Nairobi expected in the area on Tuesday to assist the affected families.
“We have sent out an appeal for emergency support for food and nonfood items from both the national and county governments to assist the affected families,” he said.
The county government, he added, was expected to embark on desilting canals and drainage systems in the affected areas to mitigate against the floods.
Sections of the dykes along River Nyando banks, he added, will also be repaired as a long term measure to curb floods.
Kisumu County Director of Public Health Lilyana Dayo said medical personnel have been dispatched to the affected areas to control spread of malaria and water borne diseases.
The disaster, she said, comes barely two weeks after an outbreak of cholera in Kisumu adding that measures have been put in place to ensure that the affected families remain safe.
“We are treating those who are sick at the evacuation centers and the villages with those who are critically moved to the nearest health facilities,” she said.
By Chris Mahandara
