Kenya floods death toll hits 112, appeal launched to provide relief

The Kenyan Red Cross on Friday said at least 112 people have died since the early March floods caused by heavy rainfall in its long rainy season.

Addressing a press conference in Nairobi, General Secretary of the Kenyan Red Cross, Abbas Gullet said the floods have displaced thousands.

“About 48,477 households have been displaced so far and this represents 260,200 people who are displaced and are not in their homes because of water levels in their communities.112 people have lost their lives across the countrywide’‘, Gullet said.

Gullet said an appeal for support has been launched to help provide relief to the displaced.

‘‘So we have launched this appeal about two days ago asking for 4.7 million swiss francs .This is just the first appeal.We think the amount needed is much much bigger but even with this little mount of money , we can already reach 150,000 people out of the 260,000 already displaced’‘, he added.

More than 8,500 hectares of crops were destroyed and some 20,000 livestock washed away, while about 100 schools were flooded.

Kenya has two annual rainy seasons- the shortest from October to December, and the longest between March and June.

The last three seasons have been poor in rainfall, causing severe drought in much of the country, with 3 million people in need of food assistance in 2017.

AFP