Another dam floods homes in Kuria East, Migori County

Some of the homes that were marooned at Kebarisia village in Kuria East. PHOTO | VIVERE NANDIEMO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • MP Kitayama asked the regional government to send engineers to inspect other dams.

Dozens of people have been rendered homeless after a dam built by the Migori county government broke its walls in Kuria.

The reservoir in Kebarisia village in Kuria East, which was built two years ago, overflowed at the weekend as villagers slept.

The overflow is suspected to have been triggered by the heavy rains that pounded the area on Friday night.

HELP

Residents who woke up early to go to their farms were the first ones to raise the alarm and helped their neighbours move to safe grounds.

“We woke up in the morning and found our houses marooned in water,” Mr Chacha Rioba, one of the villagers, told the Nation on Monday.

“Some of our houses have been swept away by the raging waters. We need help.”

“The dam nearby broke its walls and we heard the sound of water flowing into our house early in the morning.

"I had to wake my children up and run away for safety. Now we don’t know where to go,” Ms Boke Mahiri, a mother of four, said.

DISPLACED

The chief officer in charge of Disaster Management, Mr Joshua Ngwala, said the dam is shallow and measures approximately 30 metres by 50 metres.

The water is for domestic use.

“The affected families are sheltered at Komotobo mission centre as the county is looking for ways of resettling them,” he said.

Kuria East MP Marwa Kitayama said six homes were completely destroyed.

INSPECT

He added that when the water started to spill, families moved out to avoid death.

"Many families were displaced and farms destroyed. There were no casualties but we are on alert as the water is still flowing to the lowlands," Mr Kitayama told journalists.

Teams from Red Cross Society, Action Aid and the county government are helping the residents.

The MP asked the regional government to send engineers to inspect other dams.

"We need an audit of dams whether private or public to prevent serious incidents in future."