El Nino rains: Garissa launches command centre to manage emergency response operations

A coordination and command centre to effectively manage emergency response operations towards the El Nino disaster in Garissa county was launched on Monday.

The county government, the Interior and national administration, the Kenya Red Cross, and the World Health Organization among other local and international organizations were pulled together to operate under a unified command that will activate managing information and resources.

Garissa Governor Nathif Jama who chaired the meeting, said the impact of the disaster was alarming and required the efforts of different stakeholders assigned to different jurisdictions of operation to overcome duplication of response activities.

He gave the estimated number of displaced in Garissa town after the river broke its banks at 24,000 households and more in the other sub-counties within Garissa.

Governor Nathif further revealed that almost 110,000 households were also affected by the flash floods occasioned by the ongoing rains in Lagdera and Liboi sub-counties.

The governor said the command centre will work towards an effective response that will ensure resources are distributed on a needs basis.

He said priorities that include the supply of food, drugs, clean water, mosquito nets and other essentials will be considered by the various actors who will be delegated to various areas affected by the devastative El Nino rains.

The county chief also stressed the urgent need to repair the main roads that link Garissa to Nairobi and Mombasa counties.

He urged the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) and Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to intervene in the rehabilitation of the damaged roads that he said were causing a serious humanitarian crisis in Garissa county and the neighbouring counties of Wajir, Mandera and Tana River.

The government on Monday disclosed that the death toll from the floods stood at 76 while 35,000 households have been displaced with the most severely affected areas being in North Eastern, Eastern and Coast regions.

The Cabinet has resolved to mobilise a contingency fund of Sh7 billion to mitigate the effects of El Nino, with resources to be sent to counties for humanitarian response.

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