Tens of families were left in the cold after their houses were destroyed by storms associated with bad weather in Ndhiwa and Suba North constituencies.
The destructive weather wreaked havoc by blowing off the roofs of a number of houses during Friday afternoon rainfall.
In the Goyo sub-location in Suba North, at least 80 houses had part of their roofs blown off. Goyo mixed secondary school was also affected.
According to Assistant Chief Erick Otieno, the affected families spent the night in the cold due to the incident. He said the families are also counting losses after most household items got destroyed.
“The affected families need some urgent help because they have no place to settle. They intend to move back to their houses after repair,” Otieno said.
Speaking on Saturday, Otieno said some learning rooms had their iron sheets blown off and were found more than one kilometre from the building.
Students at the learning institution will suspend doing practical lessons after their laboratory is partially destroyed.
The school principal Wellington Ngesa said the incident happened when Form3 students were undertaking their practical lesson at the laboratory.
“Until the roof of the laboratory and the other destroyed classroom are repaired, we’ll return to use them. We have put laboratory apparatus in a different building for safety keeping,” Ngesa said.
Ngesa called for urgent intervention on the grounds that failure by students, especially those in Form 4 to undertake practical lessons will jeopardize their academic performance.
Form 4 students who are candidates are expected to begin their Kenya Certificate of Secondary School (KCSE) exams next month.
“We appeal for help to enable us to restore the laboratory,” he added.
At Masaye village in Ndhiwa , some houses and shops were destroyed during the rains
Resident Joseph Okello said some of the crops in their farms were also destroyed.
“We appeal to Homa Bay government to provide us with seeds for us to plant. Most people don’t have money to buy certified seeds for planting after crops were destroyed,” Okello said.
This comes as the county government gas laid down plans to address problems caused by the effects of El Nino rains.
In the strategy dubbed El Nino Inter-Agency Preparedness Plan 2023 - 2024, the devolved unit outlined different measures that each department will take to minimise the effects of floods.
Governor Gladys Wanga said they have already identified areas that are likely to witness heavy flooding.
“We have put in place measures to ensure no death or injuries are reported. We must also protect property,” Wanga said.