Gov't activates national response plan to combat El Niño

• The government will scale up interventions in line with the severity and spread of emerging impacts, with the help of key response agencies.

Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen during a past meeting. Photo: @kipmurkomen

The government has activated a national response under the National Contingency Plan to mitigate the anticipated El Niño rains.

The Ministry of Interior has announced that the government will scale up interventions in line with the severity and spread of emerging impacts, with the help of key response agencies.

This will include strategic cooperation among security agencies, setting up evacuation procedures and mapping out access routes across the country.

The Ministry said that search and rescue operations will be undertaken by the Kenya Coast Guard Service (KCGS), the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), the National Police Service (NPS), Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) and National Youth Service (NYS).

An assessment of learning institutions is also underway to establish their condition and functionality to safeguard learning materials where schools are required for use as displacement sites.

Likewise, designated evacuation and displacement centres have also been set up, with a standardised registration system ready to facilitate the identification, tracking, and provision of assistance to displaced populations.

"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.

Further, the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) and the Incident Management System (IMS) have been deployed to coordinate emergency health services, strengthen surveillance in anticipation of possible outbreak of communicable diseases.

"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."

Sanitation facilities in potentially affected settlements will be assessed, with measures already put in place to minimise contamination and associated public health risks.

Pre-positioned food stocks are also ready for release in the ten priority counties, including Tana River, Garissa, Kisumu, Busia, Nakuru, Mombasa, Kilifi, Wajir, Mandera, and Turkana.

Meanwhile, location-specific agricultural advisories will be disseminated to guide farmers as conditions evolve.

The government will be working with the National Disaster Operations Centre (NDOC) and county-level coordination structures to ensure synergy in adopting the plan.

Nairobi County has undertaken a disaster management simulation in preparation for the weather extreme.

The county plans to adopt a multi-agency approach including the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), the Kenya Red Cross, the Fire Department and NPS to protect Nairobians during the crisis.