El Nino death toll at 76 as gov't 'doing everything in its power' to help Kenyans - State House

State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed said that the Cabinet, in an emergency meeting on Monday chaired by President William Ruto came up with several interventions to help mitigate the effects of the El Nino on Kenyans.

This comes in the wake of nationwide floods which have claimed lives, displaced families and destroyed property.

"The meeting noted that 38 out of 47 counties are within the alarm stage a stage characterised by flash floods, general flooding in low-lying plains, rivers bursting their banks, landslides and mudslides, loss of livestock and destruction of farmland and infrastructure," said Mr Mohamed.

"Cabinet noted with regret that we have lost 76 Kenyans to El Nino while 35,000 households have been displaced with the most severely affected areas are in North Eastern, Eastern and Coast regions..."

The State House spokesperson also noted that the government has allocated Ksh.7 billion to address the effects of the rains.

"The resources committed will be applied for humanitarian response including distribution and supply of medical commodities, food and non-food items, rehabilitation of infrastructure and resettlement of displaced families," said Mohamed.

Part of the money, Mr Mohamed said, is meant for dairy farmers as the government moves to buy excess milk.

"To support farmers who have been adversely affected, the government has dispersed Ksh.500 million to New KCC to mop up excess milk during this rainy season," he said.

"The government has also airlifted medical supplies worth Ksh.180 million through the KDF and in conjunction with Wajir county government."

Mohamed also listed roads, bridges and an airport that have been repaired after they were damaged by the heavy rains and floods.

He also said that an ad-hoc Cabinet committee was set up on disaster response to be chaired by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.

"The emergency session of cabinet concluded by reassuring all Kenyans that the government is doing everything within its power to return the situation to normalcy," said the State House spokesperson.