The Kenya Red Cross is appealing to Kenyans to support flood victims as focus shifts to low-lying areas which are facing backflow risks from lakes.
Speaking after receiving donations from Bolt Kenya— a taxi-hailing platform — the agency noted that thousands of flood victims needed a lift to get their businesses back on track.
“Low-lying areas around Lake Victoria are still experiencing the backflow of the lake. Counties that are around the border like West Pokot are experiencing flooding because of the rains happening in Uganda,” Peter Murgor, a disaster risk reduction manager at Kenya Red Cross said.
Kenya Red Cross says water is still way above the emergency level of around four metres in Tana River, meaning there is a likelihood that more communities living downstream could get displaced.
“Schools are reopening, we have about 43,550 households that sought refuge in camps within the schools. We still need temporary shelters for these people, non-food items such as sleeping bags and blankets, to help them through this period as they try to recover,” said Mike Ayabei, head of disaster risk management, Kenya Red Cross.
Bolt says it has introduced a feature dubbed Flood Assist on its app through which people could donate for the flood-hit regions.
If a user chooses to donate, five percent of the total fare will be channeled to the flood victims through the Kenya Red Cross Society.
“A lot of people have been wanting to support flood victims but they do not know how. So, we thought if you use a taxi to where you are going, why don’t we make it possible for you to contribute,” said Bolt Kenya country manager Linda Ndung’u.
The category will be available for two weeks until Bolt reaches its target of raising Sh10 million. Already the firm has contributed Sh5 million towards assisting flood victims.
