Government says it is ramping up efforts to save lives and livelihoods as El Nino gains strength

Environment CS Dr Deborah Barasa and PS Festus Ng'eno during a past event/File. The government on Wednesday announced that El Niño was firmly established and the possibility that it will spill over to February next year is 100 per cent.

Environment CS Deborah Barasa told the media at the Kenya Meteorological Service Authority that the October–November–December rainfall season will come with potential hazards.

“The potential hazards are clear: riverine flooding that can displace communities, destroy homes and crops, cut roads and bridges, and contaminate water sources; flash floods that strike with little warning and claim lives; urban flooding that inundates homes and businesses, overwhelms drainage and disrupts power and telecommunications; lake flooding and backflow that threaten lake shore settlements and fishing livelihoods; landslides and mudslides that bury homes and isolate communities,” Barasa said.