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The number of households affected by raging floods in Kisumu has risen to 4,500 from 1,500 as scores were left homeless.

 Hundreds of families in Nyando and Kadibo sub-counties spent the night in the cold after water swept through their homes leaving behind a trail of destruction.

 Acres of rice, maize sugarcane and other crops in the area have also been swept by the floods leaving farmers counting losses. This is after River Nyando burst its banks following heavy downpour.

 At Ombaka in Nyando sub-county, hundreds of residents were stranded with their household items on the road as they pondered on their next move.

Ombaka Dispensary,  St. John Nyamasao Primary and Ogenya Primary schools are some of the institutions marooned in water as the floods continued to wreak havoc.

 Ogenya in Kadibo Sub-county faced the same problems as several homes got flooded.

 Boat operators took advantage to make a kill as they helped victims ferry some of the belongings from their houses to safer grounds.

 Kisumu acting County Commissioner Hussein Alanson Hussein who led the County Disaster Management Committee team to assess the impact of the floods said more households are expected to be affected as the rains continue.

 Hussein said evacuation centres have been set up at Ombaka and Ogenya to house the affected victims as efforts to get humanitarian assistance are underway.

 The administrator asked all people living in the affected areas to move to safe grounds or the evacuation centres to avert loss of lives.

 “There is still more rain and we want people living along River Nyando to move to higher grounds for safety purposes,” he said.

 Hussein said the county team was in communication with the National Disaster Management Unit with officers from Nairobi expected in the area on Tuesday to assist the affected families.  “We have sent out an appeal for emergency support for food and non-food items from both the national and county governments to assist the affected families,” he added.

Desilting canals

 He announced that the county government was expected to embark on desilting canals and drainage systems in the affected areas.

 Hussein added that sections of the dykes along River Nyando banks will also be repaired as a long term mitigation measure to curb floods.

 Kisumu County Director of Public Health Lilyana Dayo said medical personnel have been dispatched to the affected areas to control spread of malaria and water borne diseases.

 Dayo said the disaster comes barely two weeks after an outbreak of cholera in Kisumu adding that measures have been put in place to ensure that the affected families remain safe.  “We are treating those who are sick at the evacuation centres and the villages while those who are more ill are moved to the nearest health facilities,” she said.

 Similar effects of floods have been reported in Homa Bay county where several families in Kobuya and Kobala areas in Karachuonyo constituency have been left homeless.

 In Kobuya location, about 150 households are camping at Kobuya primary school which is being used as a rescue centre after being displaced from their homes.