In Eastern Kenya, flooding has killed at least two refugees and displaced tens of thousands of others.
Emanuel Nyabera is a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR. From Nairobi, he spoke to VOA English to Africa Service reporter Joe De Capua about the effects of the floods.
“On Friday, last week, heavy rains were experienced in the Dadaab refugee camps in the northeastern part of Kenya. And two people were killed. A woman who was expecting a baby and a two year old child were caught up in the floods,” he says.
As for the current situation, Nyabera says, ”More than 78,000 people were uprooted and apparently were moving into drier places.” The Dadaab refugee complex is made up of three camps. Two of the camps were hard hit by the flooding, Ifo and Dagahaley.
The heavy rains and floods, which have washed out roads, have also disrupted operations to transport Somali refugees near the border town of Liboi to the Dadaab camps.
The UNHCR is organizing airlifts to bring in emergency supplies.