VZCZCXYZ0003
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNR #0991/01 1350835
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 150835Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9547
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 7498
RUEHSUN/USMISSION USUN ROME IT
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 4616
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 2140
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CJTF HOA
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS NAIROBI 000991 
 
AIDAC 
 
FOR USAID/DCHA AND AF/E 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID PHUM PREL KE
SUBJECT:  WESTERN KENYA USAID/OFDA FLOOD ASSESSMENT 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  A USAID/OFDA visit to flood affected areas in western Kenya 
reveals no cause for alarm as seasonal flooding is mostly held in 
check by dykes.  A flash flood did cause limited displacement in 
Nyatike district; victims are being assisted by the GOK and the 
Kenya Red Cross.  Dyke construction and repair efforts are ongoing 
in the area.  End Summary 
 
¶2.  USAID\OFDA ICT Specialist George Ombis traveled to Budalangi, 
Nyatike and Nyando districts in western Kenya April 28 - April 30 to 
assess reports of flooding in areas which had been affected by heavy 
seasonal rains.  He met with Kenya Government (GOK) officials, Kenya 
Red Cross Society (KRCS), World Vision (WV) representatives and the 
local population. 
 
---------------- 
BUNYALA DISTRICT 
---------------- 
 
¶3.  Bunyala District is in Western Province and borders Samia, Bondo 
and Siaya Districts and Lake Victoria.  The estimated population is 
72,457.  Agriculture is the main economic activity with maize, 
sorghum, millet, cassava, sweet potatoes and horticultural farming 
being practiced.  Cash crops include rice and cotton.  An important 
economic activity is fishing in Lake Victoria and the Nzoia and Yala 
rivers. 
 
¶4.  Floods in Bunyala district are a seasonal occurrence caused by 
heavy rains upstream in the Cherangani hills, Nandi and Kaptagat 
forests and Mt. Elgon areas, overflowing the Yala and Nzoia rivers. 
Floods were experienced in 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 
¶2008.  As a flood control measure, construction of dykes along the 
Nzoia river in Bunyala started in 1977 and the current total length 
is 35 kilometers; the southern dyke is 19 kilometers and the 
northern is 16 kilometers, both designed to contain a flow of 110 
cubic meters per second. 
 
¶5.  The water levels are low at the Nzoia River gauging station in 
Rwambwa.  However, this could change rapidly depending on the rains 
upstream.  Repair works by a GOK contractor to patch low lying 
sections damaged during the 2007 floods are nearing completion on 
the southern dyke. 
 
¶6.  Public awareness activities are being undertaken in earnest by 
local administration led by the District Commissioner and KRCS 
volunteers on the need for the community to be prepared for 
evacuations in case of floods.  The local administration continues 
to monitor the water levels and relay the information back to the 
community.  KRCS officials said that frequent stakeholder meetings 
are convened by the District Commissioner to review the situation 
and field visits conducted to inspect the dyke condition. 
 
¶7.  KRCS officials also told OFDA that a contingency plan on 
response has been prepared by the KRCS, Ministry of Water Flood 
Control Unit (MOWFCU) and the District Development Committee (DDC) 
under the chairmanship of the District Commissioner (DC), listing 
resources required for emergency response.  Based on this plan, NGOs 
in the area have pledged food and non-food items in case of floods. 
The KRCS, the MOWFCU and the provincial administration are the main 
actors involved with relief activities in Budalangi District. 
 
---------------- 
NYATIKE DISTRICT 
---------------- 
 
¶8.  Nyatike District is located in Nyanza province and is subdivided 
into five divisions namely Suba East, Suba West, Nyatike, Karungu 
and Muhuru.  There are twenty nine locations and fifty three 
sub-locations.  Nyatike has a population of about 145,800 persons. 
 
¶9.  Nyatike, Karungu and Muhuru divisions experience harsher 
climatic conditions in comparison to the other divisions with 
unreliable and generally poor rainfall distribution, and high 
humidity throughout the year.  The main economic activities in the 
area are fishing, gold mining and horticultural farming along River 
Kuja with the main food crops being cassava and sorghum. 
 
¶10.  Following heavy rains in the region between April 21 and 26 
cases of floods in Nyatike district were reported.  Figures provided 
by the local administration indicate that a total of 25 houses were 
destroyed, 152 houses damaged and 105 farms submerged, for a total 
of 177 affected households. 
 
¶11.  When visited, the water level had gone down, however there were 
large pools of water still covering the farms, most of the affected 
population had gone back to their homes or were reported to be 
accommodated by relatives living in higher ground.  The most 
affected areas were Onyodhi village, Bala sub-location, North Kadem 
location and Lwanda Konyango trading center, where extensive damage 
affected houses and a police post. 
 
¶12.  Families who had completely lost their homes were camping at 
St. Anne's Academy, but preparing to move back to their homesteads 
after they were notified by the District Education Officer to leave 
the school to allow it to reopen on May 4.  This group needs food 
and non-food items, medicine, mosquito nets and assistance 
rebuilding their homes.  They said that assistance received from the 
GOK was late and that GOK food distributions were done in an 
uncoordinated manner.  They are now receiving assistance from the 
GOK, the KRCS and local faith-based NGOs. 
 
¶13.  Preparedness measures proposed by the local chief include 
undertaking a project to re-channel the adjoining Kuja River for 
irrigation purposes, planting trees because most of the area is flat 
with no proper tree cover, and lastly starting large scale water 
harvesting (storage for the dry season). 
 
¶14.  The slow government response to this flood was partly because 
Nyatike district is a newly created district and does not have 
proper operating structures in place.  It was also due to the rarity 
of flooding in this area. 
 
--------------- 
NYANDO DISTRICT 
--------------- 
 
¶15.  Nyando District is in Nyanza Province and borders Kisumu East, 
Nandi South, Kericho, Kipkelion and Rachuonyo Districts, and Lake 
Victoria.  It is divided into Upper Nyakach, Lower Nyakach, Miwani, 
Muhoroni and Nyando and divisions. 
 
¶16.  The Nyando and Sondu Miriu rivers are the two main rivers in 
the district.  Nyando River gets most of its water from the Nandi 
Hills and drains into Lake Victoria through the Kano Plain, which is 
the major cause of flooding along its banks as it approaches the 
lake.  The Sondu Miriu River provides water for running the Hydro 
electric power station which has been newly constructed and injects 
approximately 60 megawatts of electricity.  Awach is a smaller river 
which also causes flooding during the rainy season. 
 
¶17.  The main economic activities in the district include large 
scale rice farming, growing of sugar cane and there are efforts to 
revive cotton growing.  Along the 11 kilometer lake shreline the 
residents practice fishing. 
 
¶18.  The district has a history of regular flooding first documented 
in 1963 when the floods at independence known as "Kodh Uhuru" 
(Independence Floods) devastated the area, other floods were 
experienced in 1984, 1985, 2002, 2003 and 2004 along the Nyando 
river in Ayweyo, Magina, Kogwedhi and Ombaka areas. 
 
¶19.  Following heavy rains in Nyando District between April 21 and 
25, extensive damage was reported in Magina, Ayweyo, Migere, Oren 
and Awach\Rae divisions.  High water levels were experienced in the 
Nalbiego, Nyando and Awach rivers which poured into neighboring 
farms, displacing residents, destroying approximately eight thousand 
hectares of crops, leading to loss of livestock and household 
assets, and washing away several roads and bridges, according to the 
local KRCS representative.  KRCS volunteers assisted the affected 
populations by moving them to safer areas and providing food and 
non-food items. 
 
¶20.  The OFDA rep visited the villages of Magina, affected by Nyando 
river floods, Ayweyo, affected by Nyalbiego River, and Oren affected 
by the Nyaidho river.  The flood waters had significantly subsided, 
leaving large tracts of wet ground that could lead to water-borne 
diseases.  There were some collapsed pit latrines that could lead to 
possible water contamination. 
 
¶21.  In Oren location the Oriedo bridge had been washed away and 
needs to be reconstructed so as to allow residents to get to schools 
and medical facilities on the other side of the river. 
 
¶22.  A two kilometer dyke to protect Magina is still under 
construction by the MOWFCU.  The GOK was distributing rations of 
maize, beans and cooking oil to the affected populations in Magina, 
Ayweyo and Oren locations during the visit. 
 
¶23.  There is good GOK involvement in most of activities including 
food distribution, dyke construction, awareness creation and public 
sensitization meetings and regular assessments by the DDC; in fact, 
the team encountered the Nyando District Commissioner inspecting the 
dykes under construction. 
 
¶24.  The KRCS is actively pre-positioning non-food items and making 
evacuation preparations in perennially flood affected locations in 
Nyando and Kisumu in case there is need.  The KRCS, MOWFCU, and the 
local administration are the main organizations dealing with flood 
related efforts in Nyando district. 
 
----------- 
CONCLUSIONS 
----------- 
 
¶25.  The flooding situation in both Western and Nyanza Province is 
seasonally normal.  However, in Budalangi district, there is need 
for continuous monitoring of the water levels in the Nzoia River, 
because increased precipitation upstream could cause flooding.  A 
major concern is the quality of the dykes, some are low in height 
and some repair work appears shoddy.  Without proper dykes the 
flooding problem in Budalangi will continue. 
 
¶26.  In Nyando district, besides continuous monitoring of the flood 
prone rivers and adequate pre-positioning of essential commodities, 
the on-going construction of dykes is a positive effort that could 
provide relief to residents normally affected by the perennial 
floods.  Engineers on site spoke of the success they had during this 
recent flood, where there was minimal damage compared to the past. 
 
¶27.  Flooding in Nyatike district was caused by a freak flash flood, 
and is not a regular occurrence there, making it difficult to 
justify the expense of building dykes. 
 
¶28.  The best solution to avoid material and other loss during 
floods is to avoid building homes in flood plains, build high 
quality dykes and maintain them, as well as establish an effective 
local early warning mechanism.  Nevertheless, the local population 
in the areas visited are aware of the risks of flooding, and are 
being assisted by the GOK and NGOs in managing them. 
RANNEBERGER