Plight of forgotten IDP families as floods wreak havoc in Tana River

Dumi Camp, in Garsen, Tana River County; an estimated 389 households are camping here.

These are families whose homes were flooded and farmlands swept away in November last year as floods wreaked havoc.

 The government and the Kenya Red Cross are here to help them get basic needs.

Sixty-year-old Zakaria Maro is among the people in this camp who are frustrated and forced to resign to their fate as their hope of returning to their former home fades by the day.

But even as he yearns to return home to Galili Village, where they were forced to flee, the situation here is no different; the roads are cut off, and the village is only accessible by air.

Tana River is overflowing and is slowly creeping onto the remaining dry land here in Galili Village, the government and other agencies racing against time to help the affected persons, who are in desperate need of food, water and medical assistance.

The locals in Tana River County are paying the price of a natural occurrence and poor planning, as the effects of the floods on the population could have been minimised with proper planning.