Floods in western Kenya prompt UN to provide emergency relief

The United Nations humanitarian wing has dispatched an emergency team to western Kenya, where floods following heavy rainfall have forced more than 7,000 families out of their homes and submerged entire villages.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that its staff are working with Government officials and non-governmental organization (NGO) aid partners to assess the needs of the displaced families.

The emergency team is working with its aid partners in the towns of Eldoret and Kisumu to assess the available relief stocks and is also supporting national and district authorities to set up an aid pipeline to ensure the relief response is coordinated.

The flooding is worst in Budalangi district of Western province, near the border with Uganda, where the Nzoia River burst its banks yesterday after heavy rains upstream, breaching dykes and submerging villages. Budalangi is prone to flooding each year and over 28,000 families were affected by floods in 2007.