Over 57,000 displaced as heavy rains continue in Kenya

ANKARA (AA) – More than 57,000 people have been displaced in western Kenya due to ongoing heavy rains, local media reported Friday.

The flash floods caused by heavy rains have left five people killed in Bungoma county while claimed the lives of two others in Busia county over the last two days, according to The Standard newspaper.

Authorities in Siaya county set up medical tents at Sidundo, Sodom, Lunyu, Nyambare and Mahero camps, allocating 7.8 million Kenyan shillings ($73,500) to aid the affected people, the report said.

“Budalang’i Constituency is the worst hit by the floods. Evacuation of victims to safer grounds is ongoing. We have deployed eight lorries with security officers and three motorboats to help with the evacuation,” Western Regional Commissioner Anne Ng’etich, was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Over the past three weeks, heavy rains have intensified in the East African country, causing “death, displacement, flooding and landslides,” according to a report issued Thursday by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Since Kenya’s long rains season started in early March, over 233,000 people have been affected, including more than 116,000 displaced, the report cited Kenya Red Cross Society as saying.