Siaya town residents are counting losses following the onset of the long rain season, characterised by storms and heavy downpour.
A spot check by Kenya News Agency reporters in parts of the town revealed that some people have already started cursing Mother Nature, as the strong winds that usually accompany the downpour has destroyed their property.
Among the property destroyed are bodaboda sheds and food kiosks while poorly maintained drainage systems have been blocked, affecting movement.
At Rabango estate, half a kilometre from the town centre, local motor cycle taxi operators are counting loses after their shed’s roof was blown away by strong winds on Monday.
Several facilities in the town and its outskirts, among them a popular eating joint dubbed “Ka Nya City hotel” also lost its roof to the winds.
The rains that have been pounding the area for the last three days have also made mobility difficult due the poorly maintained roads leading to the estates.
According to a bodaboda operator, Vincent Radido, they are now incurring losses due to the poor road network with the residents unwilling to pay extra fare.
The residents, though welcoming the onset of the rains, are however lamenting over the inconveniences it has brought about, especially power blackouts.
Over the weekend, a motor cyclist and a matatu driver escaped death by a whisker when a Cypress tree fell from the Kenya Forest Service offices opposite the county assembly, blocking the road.
The tree almost fell on the motor cyclist while the speeding matatu driver had to apply emergency brakes and rammed into the tree minutes after it had fallen. Two days after the incident, the tree still blocks part of the road.
By ClintoneAmbujo/Keith Opiyo/Philip Onyango