The heavy downpour that is being experienced across the country has led to atleast 120 people killed and more than 89, 000 displaced due to floods in Kenya.
This has led to the government opening over 112 camps across the most affected areas and the red alert counties in preparation for the thousands of victims of floods in Kenya
Among the worst hit counties include Tana River, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera that have already been hit by the floods. Other counties that may experience the floods and are on high alert include: Isiolo, Samburu, Kwale, Homabay, Makueni, Tharaka Nithi, Lamu, Taita Taveta, Meru and Kisumu.
The government in order to track the situation, has set up the National Disaster Operations Center in Nyayo House, Nairobi, to document and report all flood disaster information from across the country.
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The command center will give early warning information, flood alerts, flood preparedness, safety and emergency response information to the general public. This is to ensure credible information from a trusted source.
PS Omollo has said that in order to reduce impact through early warnings, a command center will work in sync with stakeholders and different government entities to ensure that safety measures are applied early enough.
“Saving lives and reducing the impact of the El Nino rains through early warning and disaster monitoring remains the government’s top priority and having every actor and stakeholder working in sync is the surest way of mitigating and responding to the emergency.”
The ministries incorporated in the command centre include: Defence, Interior and National Administration, Roads and Transport, health, education, water, Sanitation and Irrigation, lands, public works, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture and Livestock Development, Energy and Petroleum, EAC, ASALs and Regional Development; and Labour and Social Protection.