Assessment of floods to be done before schools reopen

The Ministry of Education, headed by Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu, has sent out a memo asking regional heads to evaluate the ongoing floods.
The memo, which was addressed to regional directors of education, indicated that the findings will influence the Ministry’s decision to allow the reopening of schools scheduled to begin next week.
Part of the factors being assessed include the damage caused by the ongoing heavy rains on schools across the country.
“The Ministry is in the process of collecting data/information to establish the readiness of all Basic Education Institutions for the second term of 2024,” read the memo in part.
“The data on the effects of the rains and flooding will be crucial for planning and for sharing with the Education in Emergencies cluster working group.”
Reports indicate that depending on the outcome of the assessment, the Ministry is likely to postpone the opening date to allow room for repairs to be carried out.
According to the Ministry, the regional directors will be expected to oversee the process of collecting the data and should report their findings before Friday, 26 April.
According to the latest weather forecast by the Kenya Meteorological Department, heavy rains are expected to persist across several counties until 29 April.
“Heavy rainfall events are likely to occur in some parts of the Highlands East and West of the Rift Valley, the Lake Victoria Basin, the Rift Valley, the South-eastern lowlands, the Coast, North-western and North-eastern Kenya,” read the forecast in part.
“Flooding is expected in low-lying areas, those in flood plains as well as in urban areas with poor drainage. Landslides may occur on steep slopes where soils become saturated.”
The most palpable areas listed include the Highlands West of the Rift Valley, the Lake Victoria Basin, the Rift Valley, North-western Kenya and the Highlands East of the Rift Valley (including Nairobi County) among others.
So far, over 40,000 people have been displaced while at least thirty two people lost their lives in the floods that resulted from the ongoing heavy rains.
Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) had also revealed that several roads were partially closed on Wednesday including major highways such as Mombasa Road and Thika Road.
Agencies