WESTERN KENYA USAID/OFDA FLOOD ASSESSMENT

UNCLAS NAIROBI 000991 AIDAC FOR USAID/DCHA AND AF/E SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PHUM PREL KE SUBJECT: WESTERN KENYA USAID/OFDA FLOOD ASSESSMENT -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. A USAID/OFDA visit to flood affected areas in western Kenya reveals no cause for alarm as seasonal flooding is mostly held in check by dykes. A flash flood did cause limited displacement in Nyatike district; victims are being assisted by the GOK and the Kenya Red Cross. Dyke construction and repair efforts are ongoing in the area. End Summary ¶2. USAID\OFDA ICT Specialist George Ombis traveled to Budalangi, Nyatike and Nyando districts in western Kenya April 28 - April 30 to assess reports of flooding in areas which had been affected by heavy seasonal rains. He met with Kenya Government (GOK) officials, Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS),World Vision (WV) representatives and the local population. -------------- BUNYALA DISTRICT -------------- ¶3. Bunyala District is in Western Province and borders Samia, Bondo and Siaya Districts and Lake Victoria. The estimated population is 72,457. Agriculture is the main economic activity with maize, sorghum, millet, cassava, sweet potatoes and horticultural farming being practiced. Cash crops include rice and cotton. An important economic activity is fishing in Lake Victoria and the Nzoia and Yala rivers. ¶4. Floods in Bunyala district are a seasonal occurrence caused by heavy rains upstream in the Cherangani hills, Nandi and Kaptagat forests and Mt. Elgon areas, overflowing the Yala and Nzoia rivers. Floods were experienced in 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and ¶2008. As a flood control measure, construction of dykes along the Nzoia river in Bunyala started in 1977 and the current total length is 35 kilometers; the southern dyke is 19 kilometers and the northern is 16 kilometers, both designed to contain a flow of 110 cubic meters per second. ¶5. The water levels are low at the Nzoia River gauging station in Rwambwa. However, this could change rapidly depending on the rains upstream. Repair works by a GOK contractor to patch low lying sections damaged during the 2007 floods are nearing completion on the southern dyke. ¶6. Public awareness activities are being undertaken in earnest by local administration led by the District Commissioner and KRCS volunteers on the need for the community to be prepared for evacuations in case of floods. The local administration continues to monitor the water levels and relay the information back to the community. KRCS officials said that frequent stakeholder meetings are convened by the District Commissioner to review the situation and field visits conducted to inspect the dyke condition. ¶7. KRCS officials also told OFDA that a contingency plan on response has been prepared by the KRCS, Ministry of Water Flood Control Unit (MOWFCU) and the District Development Committee (DDC) under the chairmanship of the District Commissioner (DC),listing resources required for emergency response. Based on this plan, NGOs in the area have pledged food and non-food items in case of floods. The KRCS, the MOWFCU and the provincial administration are the main actors involved with relief activities in Budalangi District. -------------- NYATIKE DISTRICT -------------- ¶8. Nyatike District is located in Nyanza province and is subdivided into five divisions namely Suba East, Suba West, Nyatike, Karungu and Muhuru. There are twenty nine locations and fifty three sub-locations. Nyatike has a population of about 145,800 persons. ¶9. Nyatike, Karungu and Muhuru divisions experience harsher climatic conditions in comparison to the other divisions with unreliable and generally poor rainfall distribution, and high humidity throughout the year. The main economic activities in the area are fishing, gold mining and horticultural farming along River Kuja with the main food crops being cassava and sorghum. ¶10. Following heavy rains in the region between April 21 and 26 cases of floods in Nyatike district were reported. Figures provided by the local administration indicate that a total of 25 houses were destroyed, 152 houses damaged and 105 farms submerged, for a total of 177 affected households. ¶11. When visited, the water level had gone down, however there were large pools of water still covering the farms, most of the affected population had gone back to their homes or were reported to be accommodated by relatives living in higher ground. The most affected areas were Onyodhi village, Bala sub-location, North Kadem location and Lwanda Konyango trading center, where extensive damage affected houses and a police post. ¶12. Families who had completely lost their homes were camping at St. Anne's Academy, but preparing to move back to their homesteads after they were notified by the District Education Officer to leave the school to allow it to reopen on May 4. This group needs food and non-food items, medicine, mosquito nets and assistance rebuilding their homes. They said that assistance received from the GOK was late and that GOK food distributions were done in an uncoordinated manner. They are now receiving assistance from the GOK, the KRCS and local faith-based NGOs. ¶13. Preparedness measures proposed by the local chief include undertaking a project to re-channel the adjoining Kuja River for irrigation purposes, planting trees because most of the area is flat with no proper tree cover, and lastly starting large scale water harvesting (storage for the dry season). ¶14. The slow government response to this flood was partly because Nyatike district is a newly created district and does not have proper operating structures in place. It was also due to the rarity of flooding in this area. -------------- NYANDO DISTRICT -------------- ¶15. Nyando District is in Nyanza Province and borders Kisumu East, Nandi South, Kericho, Kipkelion and Rachuonyo Districts, and Lake Victoria. It is divided into Upper Nyakach, Lower Nyakach, Miwani, Muhoroni and Nyando and divisions. ¶16. The Nyando and Sondu Miriu rivers are the two main rivers in the district. Nyando River gets most of its water from the Nandi Hills and drains into Lake Victoria through the Kano Plain, which is the major cause of flooding along its banks as it approaches the lake. The Sondu Miriu River provides water for running the Hydro electric power station which has been newly constructed and injects approximately 60 megawatts of electricity. Awach is a smaller river which also causes flooding during the rainy season. ¶17. The main economic activities in the district include large scale rice farming, growing of sugar cane and there are efforts to revive cotton growing. Along the 11 kilometer lake shreline the residents practice fishing. ¶18. The district has a history of regular flooding first documented in 1963 when the floods at independence known as "Kodh Uhuru" (Independence Floods) devastated the area, other floods were experienced in 1984, 1985, 2002, 2003 and 2004 along the Nyando river in Ayweyo, Magina, Kogwedhi and Ombaka areas. ¶19. Following heavy rains in Nyando District between April 21 and 25, extensive damage was reported in Magina, Ayweyo, Migere, Oren and Awach\Rae divisions. High water levels were experienced in the Nalbiego, Nyando and Awach rivers which poured into neighboring farms, displacing residents, destroying approximately eight thousand hectares of crops, leading to loss of livestock and household assets, and washing away several roads and bridges, according to the local KRCS representative. KRCS volunteers assisted the affected populations by moving them to safer areas and providing food and non-food items. ¶20. The OFDA rep visited the villages of Magina, affected by Nyando river floods, Ayweyo, affected by Nyalbiego River, and Oren affected by the Nyaidho river. The flood waters had significantly subsided, leaving large tracts of wet ground that could lead to water-borne diseases. There were some collapsed pit latrines that could lead to possible water contamination. ¶21. In Oren location the Oriedo bridge had been washed away and needs to be reconstructed so as to allow residents to get to schools and medical facilities on the other side of the river. ¶22. A two kilometer dyke to protect Magina is still under construction by the MOWFCU. The GOK was distributing rations of maize, beans and cooking oil to the affected populations in Magina, Ayweyo and Oren locations during the visit. ¶23. There is good GOK involvement in most of activities including food distribution, dyke construction, awareness creation and public sensitization meetings and regular assessments by the DDC; in fact, the team encountered the Nyando District Commissioner inspecting the dykes under construction. ¶24. The KRCS is actively pre-positioning non-food items and making evacuation preparations in perennially flood affected locations in Nyando and Kisumu in case there is need. The KRCS, MOWFCU, and the local administration are the main organizations dealing with flood related efforts in Nyando district. -------------- CONCLUSIONS -------------- ¶25. The flooding situation in both Western and Nyanza Province is seasonally normal. However, in Budalangi district, there is need for continuous monitoring of the water levels in the Nzoia River, because increased precipitation upstream could cause flooding. A major concern is the quality of the dykes, some are low in height and some repair work appears shoddy. Without proper dykes the flooding problem in Budalangi will continue. ¶26. In Nyando district, besides continuous monitoring of the flood prone rivers and adequate pre-positioning of essential commodities, the on-going construction of dykes is a positive effort that could provide relief to residents normally affected by the perennial floods. Engineers on site spoke of the success they had during this recent flood, where there was minimal damage compared to the past. ¶27. Flooding in Nyatike district was caused by a freak flash flood, and is not a regular occurrence there, making it difficult to justify the expense of building dykes. ¶28. The best solution to avoid material and other loss during floods is to avoid building homes in flood plains, build high quality dykes and maintain them, as well as establish an effective local early warning mechanism. Nevertheless, the local population in the areas visited are aware of the risks of flooding, and are being assisted by the GOK and NGOs in managing them. RANNEBERGER