A Red Cross volunteer wades through flood waters in Balambala, Garissa County/KRCS
KISUMU, Kenya, May 2 – More than 70 schools have not opened due to floods in Tana River County.
According to the Coast regional police commandant Noah Mwavinda, the learning institutions were marooned by raging floods that have displaced thousands of families.
He stated that security agents are working closely with other agencies to assist in evacuation and supplying relief food to the affected residents.
“As you are aware, Tana River County has had its fair share of the ravages of this weather, to the extent that most of the villages in Tana North have been submerged,” he stated.
In Kisumu, 12 schools have not opened with the County Education Director Sabina Aroni saying the affected schools are marooned in water.
“As I have indicated before, a total of 12 schools have been affected to an extent that they were not able to open. However, the rains are erratic and the amount of floods in any particular school changes from day to day,” she stated.
Aroni said that it was advisable to postpone opening of such schools with hope that the waters will subside in the coming days.
Addressing the press in Kisumu after an assessment of the situation in the county, Aroni explained that more schools might be affected as rains continue to pound parts of the country.
She announced that the school managements have been told to be strict that no learner access schools affected to avert any calamity.
The officer stated that her office is in close contact with school heads to review the situation from time to time.
Aroni appealed to other government agencies to come in and assist where possible to enable learning to resume.
In the meantime, hundreds of residents who are still in camps because of floods that have displaced over 64,000 families in the three counties of Tana River Lamu and Kilifi are appealing for food and non-food aid.
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