Floods hit Thika as worst rain in years destroys property worth millions.

Thika MP Eng. Patrick Wainaina (centre) deliberating with Kiganjo residents on how to drain water overflow that has submerged the area.

Property worth millions of shillings has been destroyed by flash floods which hit Thika Town Saturday night following a heavy downpour, with the worst cases being reported in Kiandutu, Kiganjo, Makongeni, Kisii, Landless and Gatuanyaga areas.

It is estimated that more than 20,000 people have been heavily affected by the floods that have ravaged the low lying areas of the constituency submerging over a thousand houses. Vehicles, livestock, and household property were destroyed by the raging waters as the residents watched in disbelief.

The floods brought business to a standstill on a day that sees majority of the residents flocking to the churches and other recreational sites to worship and relax. Majority of the roads in the affected areas were rendered impassable, shutting them from the rest of the town for almost the entire Sunday.

There were reports that a wall collapsed on vehicle in Landless Estate. We also gathered information that one family in the same estate lost the entire flock of about 500 layers to the floods with other reports indicating that several goats and pigs were killed by the raging waters in different estates.

Household items, especially electronics were the worst hit by the floods that were about a metre high in some households. We witnesses several families shift homes to higher grounds after their residence were submerged in water.

A section of Makongeni's Phase 13 that has been submerged in water.

A fifty year-old Jane Njoki who is a resident of Kisii Estate said. “We have lost so many of our goods to this flood. All our beddings and clothing are wet. My children couldn’t sleep all through the night and have not had anything to eat since morning.”

Otherwise, there were also a good number of helpless families who were trapped in the dilemma, having no money to rent new houses. For this lot, they just hoped fate extended a hand of mercy and make these waters to subside.

Kenyatta Girls’ Secondary School in Makongeni was not spared either with the entire compound being submerged in water.

The heavy rains overwhelmed the capacity of the water tunnels supposed to regulate water flow. This structural flow resulted into the flooding of houses after the gushing water seeped through door spaces into rooms of residents.

Residents attribute the floods to hall mismanagement, sheer incompetence and failure to unblock the blockages in the water tunnels. Thika Town Today gathered that the few drainages including water channels are being blocked with refuse with the victims blaming the flood blockage and interfering of the main drainages by road contractors and real estate developers.

“This is so surprising to me, I have been hearing of flooding from rainfall but this is the first time I’m experiencing it. The reason why the whole place is being flooded with water is that, the drainages and water channels are being blocked with refuse and in a case like here, the contractor who is doing the by-pass near Kiang’ombe area,” explained one resident of Kiganjo Estate. 

Area MP Eng. Patrick Wainaina Wa Jungle spent the entire day mobilising rescue missions and helping to drain away the floods. He gave out five graders and excavators to the affected area to offer emergency drainage.

Thika MP Patrick Wainaina conversing to come up with a solution to the water-logging in Kenyatta Girls' High School.

“What we are doing today is simply addressing the emergency by draining the water so as to make the estates habitable. We may not be in a position to actually drain every drop because the rain is still falling but once the worst is cleared, we will come later and work out a permanent solution to the drainage problem,” said the MP.

He appealed to the county government and the treasury to provide a disaster management kitty that would cater for the ensuing damages as well as creating a permanent solution to the menace.

“As you all know, the CDF doesn’t have a kitty to deal with disasters. I request the county government to chip in and help us come up with a permanent solution to this problem,” said the MP.

Wainaina also reckoned that as a long-term vision, the constituency should come up with a water harvesting programme that could be used to do some irrigation projects in area like Gatuanyaga and Ngoliba areas.