Relief for Tana River flood victims after Sh14m payout

Some 300 households hit hard by recent floods in Madogo and Mororo areas in Tana River county have received insurance claim payouts from Britam.

Britam emerging consumers director Saurabh Sharma hailed the intervention as key to recovery while issuing the payouts last week.

“We are here to pay the first claim payout amounting to Sh14 million to households covered under the floods insurance policy in partnership with Oxfam,” he said.

Initially, Oxfam had supported the households to pay premium subscriptions for the insurance at Sh700, and the payout for this will be Sh47,000.

The money will be disbursed in three phases (months), where the first and the second payout will see the households receive Sh12,109 each, while the remaining balance will be paid in the final phase.

Sharma said the firm is seeking to bring on board the county government of Tana River and other stakeholders to reach a large population of victims and also find a long-term solution for the area's flood menace.

He said he leads the initiatives around climate insurance, where they are looking to develop innovative new insurance products to see how communities exposed to natural disasters can be protected.

“We have seen that El Nino has caused a lot of adverse effects in these communities, and we are seeing a lot of people still staying at the IDP camps, and we are happy that this claim payout to these households will help them to recover faster.”

David Ambutho, the social protection strategies officer at Oxfam, said his organisation focuses on humanitarian interventions to support vulnerable communities affected by crises such as the recent floods in Tana River county.

He said the flood insurance policy addresses the residual risks that other interventions, such as mitigation or adaptation measures, cannot address.

“Three hundred households displaced by floods in this camp have received payouts from Britam, and this is the first flood insurance in Kenya. This is not a programme in isolation because we have other programmes on resilient building,” Ambutho said.

“We are keen to also ensure that other livelihood options are also explored so that together with other stakeholders, including the county governments, we bring up ways of protecting the most vulnerable.”

Tana River Deputy Governor Mahat Loka expressed the commitment of the county government to move people permanently from flood-prone areas on River Tana so they avoid frequent loss of life and property.

“The main challenge is that some people do not want to move even if we look for alternative land on high grounds,” he said.