This archive report was first published on 10 May 2020.
Heavy rains have pounded Narok East Sub-county, causing flash floods that have claimed three lives and destroyed over 1,000 acres of maize.
According to reports, the Narok-Mai Mahiu highway is flooded, with authorities warning motorists to exercise caution on the route.
Acting Narok East Deputy County Commissioner Okumu Oloo has urged the Kenya National Highways Authority to open up drainage along the road to allow floodwaters to pass through.
Resident Timothy Surum said acres of farms have been swept away, a phenomenon he has never seen before.
‘I lost a neighbour to the floods and over 1,000 acres under maize destroyed by the floodwaters. We do not know where to start,’ said Mr Surum.
Narok East MP Lemanken Aramat has called on the government to send geologists to the area to establish the cause of the underground water hole.
‘We have suffered. We have lost lives and property. Our people are staring at a disaster should the government fail to address the flooding urgently,’ said Mr Aramat.
Meanwhile, in Embu County, farmers are counting losses after their crops were destroyed by floods.
County Department of Agriculture estimates that affected farmers will get less than 20 per cent of their normal harvest.
Agriculture Executive Jamleck Muturi said the situation was caused by dams in Mt Kenya Forest that filled up due to the heavy rainfall that filled up rivers Thabana and Kamwangi.
‘These people solely depend on agriculture as their source of livelihood, but now the floods have ruined their crops. Add to the effects of Covid-19 on the market for farm produce and it is a disaster,’ said Mr Muturi.
Elsewhere, in Kirinyaga County, several acres of rice have been destroyed after River Thiba broke its banks and water flooded rice farms.
Residents now fear there could be an outbreak of waterborne diseases since their water sources have been contaminated.
They have called on the government to intervene.
Additionally, in Sigowet-Soin Constituency, Kericho County, 15 families have had to abandon their homes and move to Sertwet Primary Schools, fearing landslides.
Residents in Chebiit, Kapkormom, and Kapchebwai villages have reported huge cracks on the ground.
David Tergech, a Kapkormom resident, said he last witnessed such a phenomenon in 1961.
‘The heavy rainfall, which has been pounding the area, claimed the life of an elderly man at Kapsorok last week. The man drowned after trying to cross a swollen river,’ said Soin Assistant County Commissioner Josephat Mwangangi.
