100 families displaced by floods in Mombasa

More than 100 families were on Wednesday night rendered homeless after flash floods swept away their houses in Mombasa’s Kisauni area.

The families were living in the villages of Mitsolokani, Mto Panga and Mwakirunge which have been marooned by floods forcing them (residents) to relocate.

The floods left a heavy trail of destruction on houses and also flounced household items such as utensils, beddings and clothes.

Mbarak Mapilau, a construction officer blamed the poor urban planning and drainage system for the mess saying residents had constructed houses on the sewer line.

The meteorological department had earlier warned that the Coast region would receive heavy rainfall and asked the authorities to put in place measures to mitigate any damage. 

The residents now want the County Government of Mombasa to unclog the drainage system to avoid any further damage and outbreak of water borne diseases.

The Kenya Red Cross officer in charge of the county, Mr Soud Kinda, said the relief agency had ordered for medical and non-food supplies such as bedding and utensils for the affected families.

Mombasa County Health Executive Binti Omar said the county government is prepared to deal with any cases of cholera and other water borne diseases.

She said all the hospitals within the county have been supplied with enough drugs to counter water borne diseases during the El Nino season.

Several residential neighbourhoods’ to Kisauni remained inaccessible after the roads were submerged. A number of vehicles remained stuck in flooded sections of the road.

Kisauni Member of Parliament Rashid Bedzimba, who addressed residents, said Ksh 2 million from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) would be spent in addressing damages caused by floods.

He donated Ksh15, 000 to buy food for the victims and said that a 12-member committee had been formed to coordinate relief efforts in the area.

“We are in charge and I ask you not to panic. We will use our local resources to help all the affected residents, but a lasting solution is to build a drainage system in this area,” said Bedsimba.