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Kenya Floods Response Update – 31 May 2018, Flash Update

Countries
Kenya
Sources
UNICEF
Publication date

Humanitarian situation and needs

• The latest FEWSNET reports indicate a positive food security outlook for most of the country, though the situation remains fragile in counties where agricultural land has been flooded.

• The Kenya Meteorological Department’s climate outlook for June – August is that arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya are likely to remain dry but continued enhanced rainfall is expected in the western highlands, the Lake Victoria Basin and parts of Central Rift Valley (Nakuru, Nyahururu), the coastal strip and Northwestern Kenya.

• 291,171 people are reported to be displaced and 183 people killed due to extended flooding across Kenya.

• Camps have been opened across the country and displaced people remain in need of additional essential non-food items for basic cooking and hygiene as well as food, safe water and sanitation facilities. Access to the most vulnerable groups with critical humanitarian supplies remains a challenge, especially in Mandera, Marsabit, Tana River, Garissa Turkana, Wajir, and Isiolo.

• According to the Ministry of Health, 261 new cases of cholera were reported in the past week, of which 110 in Garissa alone (including Dadaab refugee camp). Throughout the country, eight counties reported active outbreaks in the last week (Garissa, Tharaka Nithi, Turukana, Isiolo, West Pokot, Nairobi, Kiambu and Elgeyo Marakwet)

• 17 counties, including Nairobi and Mombasa, have been placed on high alert for Rift Valley fever by the Ministry of Health and Agriculture. Suspected cases of infected livestock are being investigated from Garissa and Migori counties.

• In Garissa, four strategic water systems supplying safe water to schools and hospitals have been washed away leaving over 10,000 people without access to safe water. Following the opening of flood gates at the Masinga dam, water levels have consistently risen forcing local authorities to issue high alerts for people to move to higher grounds for safety.

• The Kainuk bridge along the Kitale-Lodwar road is still impassable posing a serious challenge in moving supplies to Turkana County.