Kisumu-Nairobi Road Transport Halted As River Nyando Bursts Banks

Police moved fast to block traffic movement and cordon off the Nyando bridge in Ahero town after river Nyando burst its banks on Saturday night.

This follows torrential rains that continues to wreak havoc across the country even as the Government asked residents to move to safer grounds.

Thousands of people were displaced, leaving several families camping on the roadside with no place to go after markets, schools and a police station in Ahero were also submerged.

Yesterday, heavy rainfall and backflow from Lake Victoria severely impacted Kisumu County, affecting livelihoods, shelter, and economic activities.

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Although, Kisumu had not witnessed heavy rains in the past two days, on Saturday night it started to rain as early as 6 pm in the evening and carried throughout the night.

The incident caught several people unawares, especially traders, motorists and Government offices in Ahero near the river, that were submerged in freak floods.

It was a hectic moment for police in the area who did not sleep as they made all efforts to help those affected living near the river bank to relocate to safer grounds.

Led by Regional Police Commander Patrick Tito, the police patrolled round the river near the bridge to stop people from moving across the bridge either using motor vehicles or on foot

Nobody was allowed to drive past the bridge either on transit to Kisumu -Nairobi –Kericho road or vice versa as they were forced to wait for the water to recede.

For hours, the raging waters held thousands of people at ransom, with traders running helter skelter to salvage their property.

Ahero Girls secondary school near the River bank, albeit, roughly 300 metres away, was also marooned in floods. Though the school is closed for holiday, teachers were around.

Police blocked any possible access to the school by the residents. There was evidently a heavy traffic snarl up on the busy-Kisumu- Nairobi highway for many hours.

Those who left their houses at dawn to catch up with the latest bus services to Nairobi, and other local destinations out of Kisumu were stuck in the traffic jam.

Same applied to those travelling to Kisumu, who had to be stopped to wait for hours by the roadside to allow the water levels recede as police on the beat patrolled around.

Several vehicles were reportedly swept away when the drivers tried to cross the bridge thinking that the risk was minimal.

Two vehicles veered off the road and rolled. No casualty was reported according to Tito who also disclosed that evacuations to safer ground was going on.

The main market in Ahero, and even Ahero police station were not spared either as they were also submerged in water, paralyzing businesses there.

“We are urging motorists to be cautious and keep off that bridge because we already have vehicles deep in water,” police said.

—Source:PD