10 Counties on El Niño Alert as Govt Activates Nationwide Emergency Response

The government has rolled out a comprehensive national response under the National Contingency Plan to mitigate expected severe impacts from upcoming El Niño rains.

Key response agencies, coordinated through the Ministry of Interior, are scaling up emergency interventions across the country. Strategic safety measures include joint operations among security forces, rapid evacuation protocols, and active mapping of safe transit corridors.

Search and rescue teams from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), Kenya Coast Guard Service (KCGS), National Police Service (NPS), Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), and National Youth Service (NYS) stand ready for immediate deployment.

To protect displaced families, authorities have designated specific evacuation hubs equipped with a standardized registration tracking system. Officials are also assessing schools to evaluate their readiness to serve as temporary shelters without jeopardizing critical educational supplies.

“Alternative access routes will also be activated where roads and other transport infrastructure are disrupted, while air support will be mobilised through NDOC where required,” the statement read in part.

Public Health and Relief Operations

Health authorities are taking proactive measures to prevent disease outbreaks linked to heavy flooding. The Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) and the Incident Management System (IMS) are actively coordinating emergency services and surveillance.

“Supply pipelines for therapeutic and supplementary nutrition commodities have been secured and verified to ensure continuity of essential support,” the ministry noted.

“Water-quality surveillance is also set to be intensified in affected areas, alongside the distribution of water-treatment products.”

Teams are assessing sanitation conditions in vulnerable settlements to control potential contamination. Additionally, relief agencies have pre-positioned emergency food supplies for rapid distribution across ten priority counties: Tana River, Garissa, Kisumu, Busia, Nakuru, Mombasa, Kilifi, Wajir, Mandera, and Turkana.

Agricultural experts will also issue tailored advice to guide local farmers as weather patterns evolve.

National authorities are partnering directly with the National Disaster Operations Centre (NDOC) and county disaster teams to streamline logistics.

In Nairobi, local officials recently completed a comprehensive disaster response simulation. The county is combining resources from the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), the Kenya Red Cross, the Fire Department, and the police to protect residents.

Grassroots Engagement via Village Elders

Meanwhile, Environment Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa highlighted a key strategy to strengthen local climate resilience: integrating grassroots leaders into emergency disaster preparations and ecosystem restoration projects.

“Another key people that we are engaging this time round are the village elders,” Barasa said.

With over 77,000 village elders across Kenya, the ministry is leveraging their deep local influence. Official instructional booklets now equip elders to lead environmental cleanups, fight pollution, and guide neighborhood disaster mapping.

“But also in preparation of El Niño, as a ministry, we have taken it up to ensure that we have these important documents so that they are able to map out and they are able to tell the community that are living along the riverine area to move up, and those in areas that are prone to landslides, then they should move from those areas,” she said.

Landscape Restoration and Mazingira Day

Speaking ahead of Mazingira Day celebrations, CS Barasa urged citizens nationwide to participate in local cleanups, wetland protection, and tree-planting activities. She highlighted a clear shift in government policy toward long-term environmental sustainability.

“Our input is planting trees. But let us remember that our outcome is really survival,” Barasa said.

Kenya’s National Landscape Ecosystem Restoration Strategy now focuses on interconnected conservation rather than isolated projects. Restoring major water towers requires simultaneous work along riverbanks, coastal regions, and arid lands.

“We’re looking at multiple interventions to restore the various ecosystems that we have in Kenya,” she said.

The Ministry is encouraging Community Forest Associations to guide local environmental restoration due to their deep familiarity with regional terrain.

Furthermore, agricultural programs are urging farmers to adopt agroforestry alongside standard farming. This practice helps control soil erosion, boosts food security, and generates sustainable income streams aligned with carbon markets regulations and broader climate adaptation initiatives.

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