Thousands of acres of crops in Yala swamp have been submerged after the rising water levels in Lake Kanyaboli broke the retention dykes, spilling over to private farms.
Following the incident, farmers in central Alego, West Alego, South East Alego and Yimbo east locations are counting losses and staring at imminent famine.
According to the Central Alego ward member of the county assembly, Leonard Oriaro, over 10,000 acres of land have been completely submerged in the three locations that transverse Alego/ Usonga and Bondo sub counties.
Oriaro said that in his central Alego location alone, 400 households that rely on the swamp for livelihood have been rendered destitute after the raging waters submerged maize, beans and vegetable farms.
He said some of those affected have been forced to abandon their homes and seek refuge with relatives and friends in safe zones.
“Households in Udura and Komol villages have been abandoned and the residents forced to seek refuge at the neighbouring homes” he said.
Oriaro said he had already got in touch with the county government of Siaya to repair a broken retention dyke that had collapsed,causing the misery to the residents.
The incident comes amidst increased rainfall that has seen local rivers, Yala and Nzoia burst their banks.
Early this week over 3,000 people were displaced in Usonga location in Alego /Usonga East and West Ugenya locations in UgenyaSub County due to floods that also submerged thousands of acres of crops.
The national government officials, led by county commissioner Jacob Narengo rushed to the disaster scenes and helped move people to the higher ground on temporary camps set in schools and churches.
By Philip Onyango
