Plan emergency response as long rain season begins

The onset of this year’s March-April-May long rain season has been reported in some parts of the country, with an outlook report by the meteorological department showing that the downpour would spread to more areas in the coming weeks.

This is good news for millions of farmers who have been looking forward to the new crop season after months of hot and dry weather.

Traditionally, the main rain season in this country has come with a mix of pain and joy. In some areas the heavy rains meant enhanced agricultural output but in others it brought the anguish from floods and disease outbreaks.

This year is unique because we are smack in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic which could spell double trouble in some areas prone to flooding and outbreaks of vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and Rift Valley fever.

Floods are also synonymous with water-borne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, leptospirosis and hepatitis A.

Disaster preparedness teams across the country must take the earliest steps to ensure there are elaborate contingency plans to deal with any eventualities.

The Covid-19 pandemic has already proved a major headache amid increasingly overstretched medical facilities and we must strive to avoid another humanitarian crisis due to floods and diseases.

Response plans such as evacuations from flood-prone areas should be in place so that those affected get appropriate alternative accommodation as well as food and medicine.

The flood-prone areas of this country are known and well documented and the authorities should not wait until another humanitarian crisis unfolds in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Disaster preparedness teams both at the national and county levels must forge a common front and roll out strategic programmes to forestall more human suffering.

Farmers should nonetheless take advantage of the downpour to maximise their production. Disruptions due to containment measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 affected farming last year and growers have a chance to regain some lost ground this year.