Floods wreak havoc in Nakuru County leaving 5,000 familes displaced

Over 5,000 families in Nakuru County have been displaced by the ongoing rains that have continued to wreak havoc in various parts of the country by flooding farms and homes.

The most affected are those living near Lakes Naivasha and Nakuru which have recorded a sharp rise in water levels in the last month.

The county is now calling on the families near the two water bodies to shift to higher grounds as the rains continue pounding the country.

This emerged when the county donated foodstuff and personal effects to over 300 families in Ndabibi Naivasha who have been displaced by floods.

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According to the Chief Officer in charge of disaster management Ann Njenga, there were fears that the number of those affected could rise in the coming days.

Njenga said that investigations done by experts in the county indicated that there was a lot of underground water that was responsible for the current damages.

“We have over 5,000 families that have been displaced by the ongoing floods and the county is keen to assist them with food donations,” she said.

The Chief Officer identified the most affected areas as Kihoto estate in Naivasha, Mbaruk ward in Gilgil, Ndabibi and Kiptagich in Kuresoi.

“In Kihoto and Mbaruk we have residents who border Lakes Naivasha and Nakuru respectively and we have advised them to move to higher grounds,” she said.

According to her, the County was using the Ksh 58 million set aside for emergency to assist those affected by the current crisis.

“The county had set aside Ksh 3M per ward to fight Covid-19 pandemic and we have been forced to dig deeper to assist those affected by the floods,” she said.

On his part, area MCA Gathariki Kamanu noted that the floods had originated from the nearby Mau and Eburru forests.

The Maella MCA admitted that the area had in the past recorded similar flooding but termed the current one as the most serious.

“So far over 300 families have been displaced by the floods and we fear that the number could rise in the coming weeks if the rains continue,” he said Gathariki said that the only solution in addressing the problem lay in relocating the affected families to higher grounds.

“These families have legal title deeds allocated by the government but the land has turned out to be uninhabitable and hence to move them to safer grounds,” he said.