GITHOGONDO-MWEA, 21 May 2010 (IRIN) - Margaret Wawira's home is located dangerously close to River Thiba, which recently burst its banks, inundating homes and farms in her Githogondo village in Mwea, Kirinyaga region, central Kenya.

"The floor of the house seems to be sinking in and we are worried," she told IRIN on 19 May. "There was a day the children almost did not go to school as the roof was leaking and all the clothes were wet."

Her pit latrine and small farm are submerged, but the family is not about to relocate. "We settled here in 2009 after finding it difficult to continue paying rent in Mwea Town. We knew it was risky but we had no option," said the mother of three. "The children have to eat and go to school; at least here we do not pay rent."

Latrines like Wawira's, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), have contaminated rivers, which residents rely on for domestic and livestock use. Families in neighbouring Karema village are also affected.

Mwea is just one of the many areas of Kenya hit by floods after heavy rains. According to Nelly Muluka, KRCS public relations and communications officer, at least 69,000 affected people across the country are in dire need of help, while 93 have died due to floods, landslides, lightning and storms. Thousands more have lost their livelihoods, with hundreds of hectares of crops destroyed.

Heavy rains, according to the Kenya Meteorological Department, are likely to continue in Western province from June to August. The coast will receive less and the rest of the country even less but a drought is not expected.

Dams full

Kenya's longest river, the Tana, burst its banks on 19 May, and water has so far covered 18ha of land. In the east, the Masinga hydroelectric dam, which has a 45km reservoir, has filled up, raising fears that the down-river dams could spill over. That could cause flooding in Tana Delta and Garissa, according to the Kenya National Disaster Operations Centre (NDOC).

KRCS and its partners are conducting flood-awareness programmes and urging locals to relocate to higher ground.

"We expect the dams to overflow any time," NDOC head, Col. Vincent Anami, told IRIN.

Tana River District Commissioner, Henry Obina, said huge volumes of water from various feeder rivers and frequent flash floods could lead to disaster. "We've already alerted [those] living along the river banks in areas such as Kiakungu and Ndura locations to move to higher ground," Obina told IRIN. "We are on high alert as we monitor the level of water every single day."

In the west, River Nzoia, which perennially floods the Budalangi region, has burst its banks further upstream, displacing 450 households. According to the KRCS, 120 of these families are marooned in Namajalala area of New Kwanza district, Western Province. One primary school, Kebelela, has been closed.

Earlier, some local residents of Budalangi were evacuated, Anami said, but there were some challenges: "They feel we are denying them their ancestral land," he said.

NDOC has so far helped to move 66,000 people, most of them voluntarily. According to Anami, preparedness and response to the El-Niño-enhanced rains have improved this year.

"The communities are more aware of the danger," he explained. "We are also responding very fast and the pre-positioning of food and non-food items was timely."

Even so, floods in non-traditional areas like Marakwet and Turkana in Rift Valley, where rivers have changed course, has been a challenge. Yet the rains, which have fallen since January, are likely to continue until May, according to the Kenya Meteorological Department.

On 14 May, KRCS launched a floods emergency appeal of about US$7 million to assist 130,000 affected people.

Cholera outbreak

In the coastal area of Kilifi and in Rift Valley's West Pokot region, the rains have led to a cholera outbreak, the director of public health, Shahnaaz Sharif, told IRIN.

"Nine [cholera] deaths have been reported in West Pokot," he told IRIN.

In Kilifi, the outbreak is attributed to poor sanitation and inadequate clean drinking water due to contamination of boreholes and water pans by flash floods, health officer David Mulewa said.

The rains have also made roads impassable, affecting delivery of emergency and relief services. "It is getting worse every day it rains," said KRCS upper eastern regional coordinator, Mugambi Gitonga. In Uran, Sololo and Moyale, at least 1,600 households have been displaced.

The situation has led to a hike in commodity prices, Moyale resident Abdullahi Said told IRIN. "Food prices have almost doubled in Sololo," he said, adding that residents required assistance.

Bountiful harvests

However, in the eastern Ukambani region, residents are enjoying bountiful harvests. "There is a lot of maize and beans," one resident of Masinga told IRIN. "Now, even if you have 10 sacks of maize in the house, which you want to sell to pay for the children's fees, no one wants to buy. They ask you, where do you want us to take it?"

In Masinga and Kivaa markets, she said, maize was selling at 10 shillings ($0.12) per kilogramme, down from KSh35 in 2009; beans at KSh50 from KSh120; and milk at half price, KSh15 per litre.

"Major food security improvements have occurred, with the exception of some... pastoralists and farmers in parts of the southern and coastal lowlands," the March-April Kenya Nutrition Bulletin said.