{"id":415503,"date":"2026-09-08T02:39:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T02:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/415503\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T02:39:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T02:39:28","slug":"garissa-steps-up-el-nino-preparedness-as-heavy-rains-loom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/415503\/","title":{"rendered":"Garissa steps up El Ni\u00f1o preparedness as heavy rains loom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Garissa
\nGovernor Nathif Jama speaking \/STEPHEN ASTARIKO<\/p>\n

Different stakeholders in Garissa have started preparations in earnest for the anticipated El Ni\u00f1o
\nrains, with the county expected to receive above-average rainfall from the
\nfirst week of October.<\/p>\n

Garissa Governor Nathif Jama at the weekend chaired
\na high-level preparedness meeting at his office that brought together officials
\nfrom the county and national governments, the Kenya Meteorological Department, the National Drought Management Authority, the Kenya Red Cross Society and other
\npartners.<\/p>\n

The meeting marked the beginning of a coordinated
\npreparedness process aimed at mitigating the effects of heavy rains, flash
\nfloods and possible flooding along the Tana River.<\/p>\n

Governor Jama said the county could not afford to
\nwait until the rains begin before taking action, noting that a multi-agency
\ncommittee had been established to spearhead preparedness measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have said we must plan and prepare seriously
\nfor this situation. Today, we have held our first meeting to discuss the matter
\nin detail, and we are now on course for full preparedness,\u201d the governor added.<\/p>\n

The county’s immediate priority would be to intensify
\npublic awareness, particularly among residents living in riverine and other
\nflood-prone areas.<\/p>\n

Residents along the river have also been advised to
\nmove to safer grounds and remain alert.<\/p>\n

Jama further warned that increased rainfall in the
\nTana River catchment could trigger flooding downstream, making early
\npreparedness critical.<\/p>\n

The governor said
\nstakeholders would meet in Dadaab next week to further strengthen the
\npreparedness plan, followed by weekly meetings to assess the evolving situation
\nand identify areas requiring intervention.<\/p>\n

Garissa deputy county commissioner Sebastian
\nOkiring said the county was already mapping out hotspots and evacuation centres
\nwhile mobilising resources to respond to possible emergencies.<\/p>\n

He said the impact of the rains could be compounded
\nby increased water levels in hydroelectric dams upstream, potentially resulting
\nin water releases that could affect downstream communities in Garissa.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom Monday, we will have a four-day participatory
\nscenario planning meeting, where we will bring on board key players, partners
\nand stakeholders. We will map out the resources we currently have and identify
\nadditional resources that may be required,\u201d Okiring said.<\/p>\n

NDMA Garissa coordinator Abdinoor Dubow said the County Disaster
\nPreparedness and Response Committee had already developed a preparedness plan,
\nidentified flood hotspots and mapped evacuation centres.<\/p>\n

He said the technical committee would meet weekly
\nto review interventions against the latest meteorological information and
\nadjust its response accordingly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aim to ensure that we do not lose lives or
\nlivelihoods,\u201d Dubow said.<\/p>\n

KMD’s Garissa representative Mwambao Tuva said the
\nweather outlook would be refined through the participatory scenario planning process
\nbeginning Monday, after which an updated forecast would be issued.<\/p>\n

He said the department would continue providing
\nregular seven-day, five-day and monthly forecasts to ensure communities and
\nstakeholders received timely information as weather conditions evolved.<\/p>\n

Kenya Red Cross Garissa coordinator Daud Ahmed said
\nthe organisation had already enhanced the capacity of first-line responders and
\npositioned emergency supplies and equipment for possible flooding.<\/p>\n

He said boats would be available to evacuate people
\nwho could become stranded, while food, water, sanitation and hygiene,
\nas well as supplies, medical items, nutritional
\nsupplements and other non-food items, had been prepared.<\/p>\n

The Red Cross has also placed response teams and
\nvehicles on standby, particularly to support communities living along the
\nriverine areas.<\/p>\n

Ahmed said the organisation would work with government agencies and local
\nstructures to ensure early-warning messages reached communities, including
\nthrough radio programmes, community barazas and Red Cross volunteers.<\/p>\n

The stakeholders said the weekly coordination
\nmeetings and continuous dissemination of weather information would be critical
\nin ensuring Garissa was adequately prepared before the onset of the expected
\nheavy rains.<\/p>\n

According to the meteorological department, Garissa
\nis among the counties that are expected to receive above-average rainfall
\nstarting the first week of October.<\/p>\n

Among the areas that will be worst hit are Dadaab,
\nFafi, Holugho, Ijara, Liboi, Bura East\u00a0and Garissa Township.<\/p>\n

In the Northeast, the meteorological outlook has
\nidentified risks including flash and riverine flooding, loss of human and
\nlivestock lives, displacement of communities and destruction of roads and
\nbridges.<\/p>\n

Others include damage to homes and other
\ninfrastructure, waterborne and vector-borne diseases, damage to crops and livestock, disruption of transport and trade and possible
\ndisruption of schools and national examinations.<\/p>\n

Last week, the government said it has activated a
\nnational contingency and preparedness approach involving national government
\nagencies, county governments, security agencies, humanitarian organisations and
\nother disaster-management stakeholders.<\/p>\n

Garissa
\nGovernor Nathif Jama chairing the meeting\/STEPHEN ASTARIKO<\/p>\n

Garissa
\nDeputy County Commissioner Sebastian Okiring\/STEPHEN ASTARIKO<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Kenya
\nRed Cross Garissa Coordinator Daud Ahmed \/STEPHEN ASTARIKO<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

KMD’s
\nGarissa representative Mwambao Tuva \/ STEPHEN ASTARIKO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 Garissa Governor Nathif Jama speaking \/STEPHEN ASTARIKO Different stakeholders in Garissa have started preparations in earnest for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[31],"tags":[80,351,352,98,100,36736,353,101,350,99],"class_list":["post-415503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kenya","tag-kenya","tag-kenya-news","tag-star","tag-star-news","tag-star-news-kenya","tag-star-newspaper","tag-star-newspaper-kenya","tag-the-star","tag-the-star-kenya","tag-the-star-newspaper"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/117233108464353658","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}