FLASH FLOODS SWEEP ACROSS NAROK – THE SPRINGBOARD TO THE MASAI MARA
(Posted 29th April 2015)
Flash Flood in Narok after River Narok burst its banks following heavy downpour. Updates follow. Picture courtesy of ?#?iVolunteer @samgtheuri (On Twitter)
Many people are feared to have died yesterday as flash floods swept through the town of Narok after the Ewaso Nyiro River broke its banks and in a matter of minutes inundated the town centre and outlying areas.
Narok is the springboard to the world famous Masai Mara when travelling there by road and efforts are underway to establish if any foreign tourists were affected by this massive disaster. Narok is a regular rest stop for tourists when their vehicles stop to refuel, allowing them time to buy souvenirs or have a snack and a cold drink and equally are backpackers using the overland busses to reach the area.
Environmental sources were swift to blame the tragedy on the relentless cutting of trees in one of Kenya’s most important water towers, the Mau Forest and as recently as two weeks ago was a delegation from the Kenya Water Tower Agency on site to review the situation. The Mau Forest was invaded during the Moi era and a relentless assault on the forest started, cutting trees for timber, to burn charcoal and make space for land to till and subsequent governments have failed to comprehensively deal with the issue until now.
Isaac Kalua in fact, following his visit, posted several pictures on his Facebook page showing an area bare of trees and it is this wanton destruction which in the opinion of experts now led to the disaster as absorption capacity of what is left of the forest has considerably reduced, causing the flash floods.
(Photos from Isaac Kalua’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/isaac.kalua.3)
It is understood that the Kenya Red Cross disaster response team has arrived from Nairobi in Narok to being assisting those who lost their entire possessions in the flood and lead the recovery effort for those who perished in the raging waters. The Kenya Tourism Federations’s emergency response centre is also monitoring the situation vis a vis road safaris into and out of the Masai Mara and it is hoped that by tomorrow information can be obtained about the safety of safari driver guides and their tourists who were in the area at the time when the floods struck.
Appeals have been made to Kenyans and well wishers from abroad to donate to the Kenya Red Cross in either cash or kind to support the relief effort and aid the recovery mission.
