Farmers in Garissa counting losses after River Tana burst its banks

Farmers in Garissa counting losses after River Tana burst its banks

Farmers in Sankuri and Balich area in Garissa County are counting huge losses after Tana River bursts its banks destroying their crops following heavy rains upstream.

A spot check by Citizen Digital shows that Irrigation farmers in region have been left helpless as they watch their crops sub-merged in raging flood waters.

New entrants into the farming business decried the floods as a major setback that swept away their only remaining hope for livelihood having already lost their animals in the ravaging drought that preceded the rains.

Some of the crops submerged in the waters included; tomatoes, pawpaw and assorted vegetables were almost ready for harvest before the calamity struck.

“We were found flat footed by the heavy rains that started Saturday evening. We were shocked to find our farms submerged in flood waters this morning. We could not even salvage our farms tools,” lamented one of the farmers.

Heavy rains that started pounding many parts of Garissa, neighbouring Tana River and Kitui counties have seen Tana River, their source of irrigation water,  break its banks and flow into their farms causing heavy losses.

Balambala parliamentary aspirant Abdi Omar Shurie who visited the affected families and farmers urged the disaster management team to take urgent measures to mitigate the losses and avert further disaster, noting that the long rainy season has set in.

Shurie sympathised with new farmers who had just ventured into farming a few months after losing most of their livestock during the dry spell.

“All their efforts have once again gone to waste. We appreciate the speedy response by the government disaster committee but they need to do more in times like this where expect more rains,”  said Shurie.

“Already there are a lot of families who are suffering and I would urge the disaster team to visit the area and assess the damage with the aim of assisting the affected families well before another disaster strike,” he added.

On Saturday, a military chopper rescued some 14 family members who were marooned by flood waters at Hadley area, Sankuri division.

 

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farming flooding Tana River

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