The County Government of Isiolo in conjunction with the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) on Monday, December 17, airlifted food and non- food donations worth millions to hundreds of families affected by recent flash floods in different areas of the county.
The department of Special Programmes dispatched assorted items including rice, maize flour, sugar, salt and tea leaves to communities within Iresaboru, Badana and Gafarsa in Garba Tulla Sub-County.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke the Isiolo Communications Director Anthony Kiarie revealed that KDF provided a helicopter to airlift the donations just a day after Governor Mohammed Kuti formed a team to respond and coordinate the activities.
Governor Kuti stated that the items, which also included drugs and mosquito nets, would cushion the communities especially at this time when the residents cannot access essential commodities.
He further revealed that the situation was getting worse after the road network was cut off, marooning some sections of the county.
He noted that hundreds of families in the affected areas were threatened by a cholera outbreak following their consumption of untreated flood water and assured that the Department of Health had moved with speed to cushion the communities against the outbreak.
"The provision of drugs will also go along way in addressing the occurrence of water-borne diseases like diarrhoea and cholera," Governor Kuti added.
The outbreak was imminent in Gafarsa, Iresaboru and Badana where more than one thousand families had their homes marooned when Ewaso Nyiro River burst its bank, following heavy rains in the country.
Kuti added that his government would supply more medicine to support the local dispensary’s capacity to handle any outbreak.
He directed public health officials to sensitize the locals on personal hygiene.
“The outbreak of water-borne diseases are imminent here and people should treat their drinking water to prevent recurrence of cholera. Especially at this time when sources of domestic water supply points have been contaminated by floods.
"We have put the community on high alert and called for sensitization to watch out for signs of several water-borne diseases and to report the symptoms to authorities for action,” stated the governor.
