Hundreds of Kenya’s Lamu residents have left homeless after their houses were submerged by raging floods.
An estimated 1,000 victims the floods, according to the district disaster management committee, are in Bomani in the expansive Mpeketoni settlement scheme.
Several mud-walled huts had been washed away, Lamu acting district commissioner Moses Ivuto said.
“But there are no casualties as people had moved out of flooded areas to higher grounds,” he said after touring the area together with the disaster management team.
The flooding had affected schooling after a small bridge connecting the village with the institution was washed away, he said.
Mr Ivuto said the Red Cross Society had started assisting the displaced families with food and clothing but more assistance was needed.
“We will be holding an emergency meeting to come up with an urgent plan of action to assist the victims,” he told the Nation by telephone.
A resident who has been forced to abandon his home, the rains have been pounding the area for two weeks, according to Mr Joram Njoroge. Mr Njoroge, whose three acre maize plot has been destroyed, said hunger was imminent in the area.
“But the greatest fear now is the strong possibility of hippos coming up to where the people are because of the huge water mass,” he said.
Mr Emmanuel Wanyoike Kimani, a Red Cross official, said immediate measures should be taken to ensure that lives were not lost due to starvation and outbreak of water-borne diseases.
“The situation is critical and more food and other materials like blankets and mosquito nets are needed urgently to supplement what has already been given out,” he said.
