The residents of Nyamasao village in Nyando Sub County have sent an urgent appeal for humanitarian assistance flush floods occasioned by heavy downpours marooned their homes and displaced hundreds of families.
Beatrice Anyango who is among the displaced residents who sought refuge at Nyamasao primary school says they were forced to flee their homes after river Nyando broke its banks and swept through their villages.
She raised concern that since the affected families relocated to the school, both the county and national government were yet to respond to the crisis claiming the victims left their homes without any foodstuff to sustain their stay at the camp.
She expressed fears that children and women were exposed to waterborne diseases asking the government to mobilise resources for the victims before another calamity struck.
“We have sought refuge in the school far away from the evacuation center which is at Ombaka because Ombaka is far and our children are sitting their examinations but this place is not safe either because it is also prone to flooding during excess rains hence we are now at the mercy of our chief and his assistant whom we are waiting for to give us the way forward,” lamented Anyango
The residents however lamented that the members of the local administration whom they have been waiting for to give them the way forward have also not been reachable including the D.O. and the D.C nor any representative from the county government.
The residents pointed out that they have now just been reduced to bare survival only striving to find what they can eat to ensure their daily survival.
“We are calling on both the national and the county governments to move with speed in erecting dykes and also desilt the rivers in this area because it’s the only way that the floods will be controlled because we cannot even do farming due to the floods” added Anyango
Naomi Uhuru, an affected resident urged the county and the national government to ensure they put adequate and concrete measures in place early enough in time to ensure the lives of the residents are not disrupted every rainy season by the river Nyando flooding.
“We are calling on the national government to erect the dykes which they had started doing but abandoned mid-way because for how long will we continue to be displaced because some of us have been perennial nomads since 2019 due to the floods,” pointed Uhuru.
By Milton Onyango
