Child dies from drowning as floods wreck havoc in Kisumu’s Nyakach » Capital News

KISUMU, Kenya, Apr 16 — A child has died from drowning amid raging floods in Kisumu’s Nyakach sub-county that have displaced several homes.

Red Cross said Tuesday the incident involving the minor happened in an area identified as Gem Rae.

Kenya Red Cross coordinator Arnold Gondi who oversees operations in Muhoroni, Nyakach, and Nyando sub-counties said the agency was collecting additional information to guide mitigation measures.

“Already I have received information about a child who has died as a result of the floods,” he said.

Red Cross and Kisumu County Disaster Management team were on the ground to assess the situation.

County Head of Disaster, Maurice Oricho, said the information gathered will help strategize interventions by the local government.

“We have many partners and we will work with them to get solutions to this problem,” he said.

Oricho said the assessment will seek to establish the exact number of families affected.

“Currently, we can’t give the exact numbers of affected families, but to help us mobilize funds, we must have that number,” he said

Need for dykes

Speaking at Ayweyo Primary School in Nyando, an evacuating centre, locals affected said they need dykes to control floods.

“We have lost chicken and many properties to water,” said Jackline Atieno, a resident who noted raging waters entered houses displacing them at night.

Area MCA Maurice Ngeta said several bridges had collapsed making transport difficult.

“Our roads are all in water, bridges washed away, we’re in problems,” he said.

Ngeta called upon families affected not to wait but to move to evacuation camps.

The assessment team also included health officials who cautioned the locals to be keen on the water they consume to avoid an outbreak of cholera and other waterborne diseases.

More families living along River Nyando slept in the cold as the river burst its banks.

The floods also affected Ahero Market, Ahero Girls Secondary School and adjacent homes.

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