For El Nino, prepare for the worst and expect the best

For El Nino, prepare for the worst and expect the best

Avoid landslide prone areas in El Nino. Photo/Google Images

By MUSYOKA NGUI

The Kenya Meteorological Department has predicted El Nino that is expected to pour from October and extend up to January 2016.  While it is wise to prepare for the worst it is important to note that the weatherman has gotten some past predictions wrong thus making planning and disaster preparedness inaccurate and wrong.

The El Nino rains rekindle the humorous memories of the lady famous for her “serikali saidia” plea when her neighborhood was submerged in water in Western Kenya. In Budalang’i flooding is synonymous with the rainy seasons.

It will be curious to know what the ordinary Kenyans have done to prepare for the El Nino rains. While the government should ideally cushion the citizens, the latter should mind basic hygiene. This include boiling drinking water, moving from low lying grounds to higher ones and stocking up fuel for the cold and wet season. For instance one should have enough firewood, buy gas cylinders and refill the depleted supplies and generally maintain personal hygiene. Covering food will keep away water borne diseases including diarrhea and cholera.  Those who are able may also consider buying generators as long rains disrupt hydroelectric power. Counties should stock hospitals with enough medicine to address attendant waterborne diseases and other emergencies that may arise from El Nino. It is not time for governors to cry foul that they lack adequate funding for health function. They should do more with the less they get from national government. Nurses and doctors, remember your Hippocratic Oath even as you contemplate to strike yet again.

Children and pregnant mothers should sleep under treated mosquito nets since they are the most vulnerable when malaria strikes. With El Nino looming the risk is real. People also need to walk around in shoes to avoid catching bilharzia along rivers and pools of water.

Tackle Global Warming

County governments must also plan for drainage and watch the signs and symptoms of waterborne diseases before they become full blown to avert needless deaths and suffering.  The weatherman expects the rains to continue up to January next year so the national government should put emergency relief foods for those likely to be affected by El Nino rains. The budget plug of Sh.10.5 billion that the government needs to fill in order to effectively address the long rains should be closed by, say, a supplementary budget passed by parliament and not to wait for the disaster to overwhelm us in order for the government to act.

Counties too will do a great job by planting trees and building dykes to reduce the cases of environmental degradation.  Residents in landslide prone areas should prepare to shift to safer areas. These include counties in Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western provinces. This would go a long way to curb injuries, losses of lives and damage to property.

Better still governments across the world must take global warming seriously as it is thought to cause adverse weather conditions including El Nino, drought and famine. El Nino does not have to be a curse. African traditions view rains as blessings and we should use the opportunity to harvest rain water in tanks. It is also a brisk business opportunity for sellers of candles, umbrellas, gum boots and raincoats