IFRC: Floods trigger death and massive displacement in Kenya

Deniz Kılınç / İstanbul, May 4 (DHA) – International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Socities (IFRC) have stated that heavy rains are creating havoc among the people in Kenya with approximately 100 dead and 260,000 displaced.
According to the report published by IFRC many of the affected were alreadt struggling to recover from the 2017 drought. Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Abbas Gullet evaluated the situation as “a double tragedy for many communities” and added: “These people are strong, and they have already overcome so much adversity. But there is only so much a person can take, and I’m worried that these floods will push some people beyond the brink.”
While the Kenya Red Cross and IFRC were said to be focusing much of their efforts on supporting these “high risk” communities, Gullet said: “We will be supporting people from 15 out of the 29 affected counties. These include ten counties that we have already been supporting through our drought response programm.”
According to the report, the floods may have a triggering effect to worsen outbreaks of diseases such as malaria and chlorea.
IFRC Africa Regional Driector Dr Fatoumata Nafo-Traore have describe the situation as follows: “There are already active cholera outbreaks in five of the counties affected by floods. We fear that these outbreaks could worsen and spread.
“We are also worried that once the rains subside, people may face an upsurge of mosquito-borne disease such as dengue fever, chikungunya and malaria. We need to act now to pre-empt these very real, and potentially very deadly threats.”