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In deep water

  • 14/05/2004

In deep water At least four people were killed and nearly 2,000 rendered homeless after heavy rains in the western Kenya triggered devastating floods. The rainwater, in the absence of a proper drainage system, entered the region's Nyando river, swelling it.

Those displaced are currently recuperating in camps set up by the Red Cross, revealed an official of the country's National Disaster Operation Centre. The slums of Mathare and Kibera were also affected. The government and the Kenya Red Cross Society have advised people living in flood-prone areas to move to higher grounds during the rainy season.

Kenya's meteorological department had correctly predicted in March that the country would receive heavier-than-usual rainfall during the April-May wet season. Last year, the floods had displaced nearly 60,000 people, and the death toll was around 60.

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