Do more to prevent weather disasters
By People Team, November 25, 2019The death of at least 42 people in three villages in West Pokot county caused by landslides occasioned by heavy rains is tragic and regrettable. Tragic because a life lost is one too many and regrettable because this could have been mitigated if not averted.
As at last count, 15 bodies had been pulled out of the rubble in one of the worst catastrophes to happen in the area as some 20 other people could not be accounted for and were feared dead.
Security, administration, humanitarian and other agencies must ensure everyone is accounted for.
The same agencies need to work with local people to ensure that those living in areas that pose a risk to life are evacuated to safer areas.
The slopes of the Aberdare Ranges, Mount Kenya, parts of Murang’a and the Western region have been identified as prone to landslides. It is here that preventive measures must start, even as other perilous areas are identified and residents evacuated.
Early last week, the Meteorological department warned of heavy rains, largely owing to the warming up of the Indian Ocean. Did anyone take heed of the warning? Was Mother Nature left to wreak havoc without any interventions that could have saved lives and averted the catastrophe?
In this age of digital predictions of the weather forecast, it is strange that even warnings from the weather experts would be met with a wobbly response by disaster management authorities.
For a country that boasts a disaster management and preparedness policy, it is heart-wrenching that we should be visited by death on such a scale, especially after early warnings.
The phenomenon that caused the heavy rains and resultant deaths and damage is predictable.
Similar events occurred in October and with the warning about heavy rains, there should have been a degree of preparedness.
And it is not just deaths that have caused agony. Communication between Lodwar and Kitale has been as good as cut off, with all the attendant logistical nightmares that ensue after such calamitous events.
An emergency rescue operation would help stem the worsening situation, given that the rains continue. It is a matter of life and death.