Article Adopted from OCHA :
HIGHLIGHTS
-
Heavy rains and flash floods have affected an estimated 848,773 people, including 350,155 displaced, in Kenya, Somalia, Burundi and Tanzania.
-
In the coming period, heavy rain and flash floods are projected to continue in some areas across Kenya and Tanzania.
-
There is an urgent need to scale up multi-sectoral response in the affected areas, including food, healthcare, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions and essential supplies.
-
Humanitarian partners have been supporting Governments in search and rescue operations, conducting needs assessment, pre-positioning available stocks and providing urgent assistance.
However, partners require urgent additional funding to scale up response as heavy rains and floods spread.
SITUATION OVERVIEW
Heavy rains and flash floods have affected 848,773 people, including 350,155 displaced, in Kenya, Somalia, Burundi and Tanzania. In Kenya, an estimated 267 people have been killed, 188 injured, 75 missing, while 281,835 people (56,367 families) have been displaced and almost 380,573 (76,114 families) affected by persistent heavy rains and flooding since March and as of 9 May. At least 9,973 livestock have been lost, 41,562 acres of croplands and 61 roads damaged, 886 businesses, 103 schools and 42 health facilities affected as of 8 May. All the seven-forks hydro-electric dams have been overflowing since 29 April, causing flooding in Garissa, Tana River, Lamu counties as of 10 May. This poses the risk of flooding in the Tana Delta and impacting Garissa, Tana River and Lamu counties. In Tanzania, five people were reportedly killed and seven injured in Kilwa District, in the east, following Tropical Cyclone Hidaya’s landfall in Mafia Island on 4 May, according to Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, quoted by the media on 9 May. Some 2,098 houses were damaged, including 678 completely destroyed, 877 partially damaged and 543 submerged. Damage to roads, bridges and more than 23,500 acres of cropland was also reported. The Government is reportedly conducting assessments to determine the extent of the damage. In Somalia, as of 5 May, 163,000 people have been affected by the Gu season heavy rains and floods (April-June), more than 37,120 people have been displaced, 1,143 houses have been destroyed, 3 schools damaged and 87 hectares of farmland have been destroyed.
Hirshabelle, Jubaland and South West are the worst affected provinces. At least 67 of the 95 verified sites for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Hirshabelle Province have been impacted by the rains, affecting 39,120 people. In Burundi, torrential rains have affected more than 179,200 people and forced more than 31,200 people to move from their homes due to flooding since January 2024. On 5 May, a visit to a displacement site, hosting flood-affected people in Mubimbi, Bujumbura Rural Province, in the west, was conducted by the President of the National Platform for Risk Prevention and Disaster Management, the Directors-General of the ministries involved in the relocation of people, the United Nations Resident Coordinator (RC) in Burundi and members of the Humanitarian Country Team. The people at this site were displaced from Gatumba village. At least seven people have died in crocodile and hippo attacks in the flooded area of the village. The visit followed a high-level meeting between the RC and the Ministry of the Interior, Community Development and Public Security to agree on the necessary support and emergency assistance to help some 2,000 families still in the flooded areas of Gatumba. In Uganda, last week, disasters including landslides and floods devastated several communities in Bunyangabu and Kasese districts, western Uganda, resulting in loss of life and property. Affected families had since resorted to makeshift shelters. There is an urgent need to scale up multisectoral response in the affected areas, including food, healthcare, shelter, WASH interventions and essential supplies.
In the upcoming period, in Kenya, heavy rainfall is forecasted to persist, with a possibility of rainfall intensities decreasing, according to the Kenya Meteorological Department. In Tanzania, rainfall in May is anticipated to continue in some areas, particularly bimodal areas with isolated cases of enhanced rainfall expected in a few areas during the month, according to Tanzania Meteorological Authority
Add comment
Comments