Families rescued from floods
Submerged homes and shops at Tractor area in Ngaremara ward, Isiolo County, on Friday. More than 1000 families have been displaced from their homes following the ongoing heavy downpour.
A Chinese family was among those trapped in submerged houses in Kilifi County as floods continue ravaging the country.
The family was rescued after it was trapped in Mtondia on the Kilifi-Malindi highway. Kilifi North Deputy Commissioner Samuel Mutisya said the county security and disaster team had embarked on a rescue mission for other affected families.
“We have evacuated the Chinese family safely and going around to see if there are people marooned in their houses," he said.
Mtondia Assistant Chief Nzai Kombe was informed of the incident by a caretaker of the Chinese family. “The Caretaker had come from the market in the morning when he found the homestead flooded and informed us and we planned for their rescue,” he said.
Six people, including two children, were trapped in the house.
“Other residents sensed danger and moved to safer places but the family remained at their home, maybe because they trusted their house," he added.
The administrator said many areas were affected and he expects more families taken to safety.
Mr Pato Ktana from Mavueni village said the Mbogolo Bridge was swept away after the raging water failed to get a way through the small culverts due to the ongoing construction.
“The bridge was washed away at 3am,” he said.
Mzee Shadrack Charo from Mbogolo said his house was swept away at night. He also lost two cows and a goat.
In Mombasa, Salim Mwanyiro, 34, is lucky to be alive.
However, he will live with the trauma after seeing his uncle and two of his workmates drown while unclogging a sewerage system at the Makupa Roundabout on Friday evening.
"I nearly died. I am shaken," Mr Mwanyiro said while crying hysterically.
He is among the four people rescued from floods at the Makupa. “I do this kind of work for a living. Today, we got stuck while unclogging the tunnel and four of us were rescued,” he said.
“We don’t know where the bodies of our colleagues are. One is my uncle the rest are my friends. I just wish their bodies are retrieved and we go bury them, it’s too painful,” he added, noting that the water must be drained for them to be retrieved.
He was later taken by the county doctors in an ambulance to Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital for treatment and counselling.
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir declared the rescue operation.
“We were able to rescue four people who were treated and discharged at our county referral hospital. Three others are still trapped, we hope to get them out. One person has gone down the drainage system to retrieve the bodies,” he said, adding that the only way to retrieve them is for someone to enter the tunnel, which stretches for about 1.5 kilometres and ends at Makupa Creek, pouring into the Indian Ocean.
The governor directed the disaster management team, led by Transport County Executive Dan Manyala and his Lands counterpart Hussein Mohammed to camp at the site until the bodies are retrieved.
“One of the places that had been a disaster when it rains was Ziwani, which is not very far from here. The engineers came to look at what was causing the problem, when Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) built this road, they built a drainage system on top of an existing drainage system, which has caused problems with the heavy rains pounding the region,” he said.
President William Ruto has said the government cabinet will meet on Monday next week to deliberate on the recommendations for dealing with the prevailing floods and the creation of a disaster operations center.
Reports by Ndubi Moturi, Maureen Ongala, Waweru Wairimu and Winnie Atieno
