A friend is currently in America and he narrated how a week ago he was unable to proceed on a planned visit to Washington DC due to hurricane Joaquin bearing down on the East Coast of the US and how due to the state of emergency declared by respective state governors leading to all non-essential travel being cancelled they had stayed put even practicing living in a storm cellar should things get really rough. Well they dodged that bullet with the hurricane veering off towards Bermuda and causing serious damage in that region.
This is a grim preamble to our own looming crisis, but are we ready for it? The now boring mantra of ‘serikali saidia’ is almost on us once again. With the advent of the expected El Nino rains as has been predicated not only by our weather men in the +254 but also internationally heavy rains affecting much of the country will be upon us soon in a deluge of rain, more rain, floods, over flowing rivers, landslides and misery interwoven in equal measure reminiscent of the times of Noah and his famous Ark! This is expected to be the worst period of continual rain for the last 60 years.
In Kenya, the central and county governments seem to have taken the threats of flooding and related perils wrought by the expected heavy rains seriously (and I say this with a pinch of salt and tongue in cheek and trying unsuccessfully not to roll on the ground as I burst out laughing) based on the frenetic warnings to those living in flood prone low lying areas as well as those on riparian reserves and hilly slopes prone to landslides to relocate for the time being until the El Nino rains are over. There also appears to be additional efforts to clear up chocked and clogged drains and to widen drainage channels in flood prone towns and low lying areas despite the blame game that is shaping up with the central government being accused of not releasing funds for El Nino preparedness a song that is likely to take on a more stringent tone when the rains begin pounding in earnest.
The die is already cast and already some deaths have been reported in the media in rain related incidents across the country but the citizens are having none of these requests to move away from danger responding with the clichés that they have nowhere else to go, their homes have never been affected before so why now, and that their children are hard at work studying for exams…….as if they shall have a future should the deadly predictions be proved right and whole families plus their books and beloved pets are swept into a watery grave one rainy night!
But anyone over the age of 15 years of age will agree with me that in this digital age weather predictions are spot on 95% of the time so while it would be unfair to look on with disdain at the steps a caring government (oxymoron intended) is taking to protect its citizens from the almost certain elements soon to visited upon us, it is equally foolish to ignore the advice of the scientists that study such mundane things as weather predictions for a living, with one clueless guy recently admitting he has not heard anything about heavy rains and once again proving beyond doubt that aliens from another planet do populate our country!
So don’t rule out ‘serikali saidia’ choruses when rain drenched citizens who refused to heed warnings of danger with nothing else left but the clothes on their backs now turn to the same government that they ignored for assistance when the chips and their homes are finally down swept into a pulpy mess by the raging storms soon to land on our shores!
But whatever you do heed the expert calls on how to stay safe rather than sorry however silly they may sound because this could save your life.
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