Tana River the County has received Sh. 550 million from the national government for flood mitigation measures as the ongoing El Nino rainfall continues wreaking havoc in the region. Governor Major (Rtd) Dhadho Godhana has said.
The Governor said the funds would assist in the intervention measures by supplying relief food to the displaced flood victims as River Tana burst its banks.
Addressing journalists in Hola Town on Friday, Godhana said the county required at least two choppers to help in dropping relief food rations to the villages that were inaccessible after roads were cut off by floods.
He said so far, Hola, which is the county headquarters, could only be accessed from Mombasa and it was the only remaining route to access the entire Tana River County by road.
He said Garissa, Nairobi, Wayu, Ijara, Masalani, Asa Kone, and Waldena among other routes were completely cut off and the county could soon run out of food supplies.
The Governor said majority of the villages relied on supplies from Hola, but there would be no food in the next three days due to the status of the dry weather roads in the area.
“We are getting overwhelmed after two weeks of the ongoing heavy rains causing a humanitarian crisis. We have a huge population of about 10,000 people displaced by the floods as the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) continue camping in Garsen, Galole, Bura, Waldena and Bangale,” said Godhana.
He said in Tanadelta Sub County, areas like Asa Kone, Kone, Galana, Waldena, Kone Kaliki, Haboye Titila, Wayu, and Matolani Hawewanje could not be accessed by road.
Speaking at the same function, Tana River Kenya National Chamber of Commerce Chairman Mr. Hassan Barissa said the situation is worrying as roads have been cut off making it hard for business persons to transport goods.
He said what they feared most was that food and drugs might run out of stock as they could not be transported to towns like Hola, Garsen, and Bura.
Barissa called on the National Government and donors to ensure they urgently repaired the roads for the affected areas to be accessible.
By Simon Guruba
