Over 5,000 people have been displaced by floods in Kisumu County following a backflow of water from Lake Victoria.
Nyando and Kadibo Sub-Counties have been worst hit by the waters leaving behind a trail of destruction.
Kisumu County Commissioner Benson Leparmorijo said the affected families have been moved to evacuation centres to avert loss of lives.
The government, he added, has directed all people living in the affected areas to move to higher grounds adding that efforts have been made to support them with food and non-food items.
“The government has distributed relief food to the affected families at the evacuation camps. It is also worth noting that a good number have been taken in by relatives living in safe areas,” he said.
The Kenya Red Cross, he added, was also on the ground to help in the evacuation of marooned families as efforts to divert the water continue.
“The county government of Kisumu has provided two excavators which we have deployed in Kadibo and Muhoroni to help open up the drainage system to free the water,” he said.
At Ombaka Junior Secondary School in Kakola village, hundreds of people are seeking shelter in classrooms with fears that they could be sent away as schools reopen next week.
Mary Nyamondo, a representative of the affected families urged the government to provide alternative space for them since it was not possible to immediately go back to their homes which have been destroyed.
“I am appealing to the government to provide alternative shelter for us because it will not be possible for us to stay here when the school opens next week. Our houses have been swept away by floods and it will require time and resources to rebuild after the rains subside,” she said.
According to the school head teacher David Ochieng, the number of displaced persons being sheltered at the institution was huge and the school will have no option but to send them away as learning resumes next week.
Currently they are staying in classrooms. One classroom has up to 30 people but from next week we have to use the classrooms,” he said.
Meanwhile Kisumu Deputy Governor Dr. Mathews Owili has asked the government to fast-track the construction of Koru-Soin dam to contain floods downstream river Nyando.
The Sh19.8 billion multi-purpose dam, he said not only holds the promise of scaling up irrigation and food production in the area but is also a long-term solution to flooding.
“Abstraction of water from River Nyando into the dam will ensure that our people living downstream the river don’t suffer whenever we experience heavy rains,” he said.
Speaking at Pawteng Primary School in Muhoroni Sub-County, Dr. Owili said the project which is fully funded by the Government of Kenya has stalled calling for concerted efforts to have it completed as scheduled.
Speaking on the same occasion, his Kakamega counterpart Ayub Savula asked the government to suspend some development programmes and channel funds towards mitigating floods in the country.
Savula said it was unfortunate that the ongoing floods have claimed lives adding that it would be pointless for the government to spend billions on projects while Kenyans are being swept by water.
He cited a project such as the Standard Gauge Railway, which he said can be suspended temporarily to allow the government to tackle the flooding menace once and for all.
“We cannot be crying every time over floods in Budalangi, Nyando and Nyakach. As a country can’t we find a permanent solution to the perennial flooding?” he asked.