Hundreds of families in Tana River and Garissa counties have been displaced after their homesteads were submerged in flood water. For the past three years, floods from River Tana have wreaked havoc in my hometown, Garissa, causing a lot of destruction.
Floods are a constant feature at our homestead and neighbourhood – the worst being the El-Nino of 1997, when my family lived in a school for weeks.
Our homestead is surrounded by water and many neighbours have fled to overcrowded schools, the Covid-19 pandemic notwithstanding. In 2018, my family and friends had to relocate for days. We came back to find our outdoor bathroom destroyed.
Rather than issue flood alerts every season, the government needs to find a solution to the perennial Tana Delta floods. Any innovative solution to the obnoxious cycle is welcome.
Abdullahi Abdille Shahow, Garissa
Floods have claimed the lives of many Kenyans in the past few months. Most of the affected people are accused of ignoring directives by the government to relocate to safe areas, mostly higher ground, to escape the floods.
However, reports show residents are mostly compelled by officials to move at the eleventh hour, often after their homes have been swept away by flood waters. But it is not simply a matter of shifting residences. In some communities, it is difficult for one to just move from their home and settle in another place.
Some of the people have to cover long distances to safety. The government, through the local committees of the National Disaster Management Unit, should be at the forefront of identifying safe places where the displaced residents can shift to. Through the local leaders, information regarding these places should be made public.
There should be organised transport for those in the flood-prone lowlands far away from the high-altitude areas. These places should be spacious to ensure occupants observe social distancing to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and other diseases.
There should also be easy access to adequate food, public health and medical services.
Salasya Jonathan, Bungoma
Prof Wangari Maathai said nature is generous but very unforgiving. The floods and mudslides sweeping across the country and the Covid-19 pandemic are ideal examples of nature’s wrath. We must appease nature and beg its forgiveness by stopping deforestation and encroachment on water catchments and planting trees.
Parks now have a chance to rejuvenate as we cannot visit. There is no noise pollution from entertainment joints. Dumping carefully is no longer a luxury.
We are being confined indoors as nature takes charge of Earth.
Kiongo Ngarama, Nairobi
