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Rapid Response Fund Payment Request No. 14/2014
Funds Sent To: LWF Kenya
Amount Sent: US$ 60,000
Date: 24 October 2014
Details of Response
Emergency: Flooding at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya
Date of Emergency: 20th October 2014
ACT Requesting Member: LWF Kenya – Djibouti Program
NARRATIVE SUMMARY
DETAILS OF THE EMERGENCY
From October 20th 2014 heavy rains in Kakuma, Turkana County in Kenya, and in the higher areas near Kakuma caused the seasonal Tarach river to overflow. The water levels increased rapidly and the river burst its bank on the 20th of October. The Tarach cuts right through the refugee camp, which is hosting more than 175,678 refugees including about 45,000 who have arrived from South Sudan since the fighting broke out in Juba 15th December 2013.
The water swept away several houses while others were flooded. An initial assessment concludes that 552 houses were either swept away or severely affected. So far 9 people are confirmed to have died (8 in the host community and 1 refugee).
A total of 278 refugee households consisting of 1,188 individuals were registered as being the worst affected and in need of immediate support (non food items and food). They are now sheltered in a temporary centre at a school in the camp, the Malakal School. An assessment of shelter needs is being done.
One school (Kakuma Secondary) was affected with 8 classrooms damaged.
Two sections of the main water pipelines crossing the flooded river supplying the refugee camp with safe potable water were swept away. One of these pipelines was serving Kakuma IV (this is the new area of the camp which hosts new arrivals from South Sudan) and the other was serving two boarding schools. The Kakuma IV water supply is therefore far below minimum standard as a consequence of the floods, and the two boarding schools has been left without water.
Access roads have also been damaged and food supplied to schools for School Meals Programs has not reached the schools. Bad roads have also made water trucking difficult, with the heavy trucks sometimes getting stuck.
ACTIONS TO DATE, AND EMERGENCY NEEDS
The affected families were relocated to the Malakal centre for assistance, shelter and protection. Wet feeding (cooked food) from LWF’s supplementary feeding reserves (reserves for the reception centre) is being served for lunch and dinner as the process to receive WFP rations is ongoing. All the 1,188 people in the Malakal centre have been fed.
The LWF Safety and Protection Team have been strengthened to ensure safety and crowd control during the distribution processes. 10 LWF refugee guards were deployed to the Malakal centre at night. The greatest challenge is the lack of lights at the centre which poses all sorts of risks (protection of women and girls, crime, etc), the additional security team will assist to prevent this.
NCCK and UNHCR commenced the case by case assessment on shelter status of the affected households which involved taking family after family to their old shelter location to jointly assess their specific situation.
The LWF Child Protection team registered 447 (351 boys, 196 girls) children among the most affected and all of them were given two sets of clothes. Adult cloths were not readily available and the adults will get these from other LWF sector stocks as soon as possible. A major problem is that baby clothes have not been available.
Trucking of water had started to bring safe, potable water to the areas affected by pipes being swept away. Due to the bad and muddy roads, a water truck got stuck for the whole day. The situation is further complicated by the fact that this truck is needed for transporting water to the Nadapal transit centre (on the South Sudan border) and hiring of at least one additional truck is needed.
The work on reconnect the cut off pipe to Kakuma IV (new area with the new arrivals) is on hold since the river bed is still wet and cannot be worked on at the moment. It needs to dry up a bit first, but the work will start within a few days. Reconnection is very urgent to supply water, and the alternative (trucking) is very expensive and not sustainable. For now trucking is needed, but reconnecting pipes is urgent and to do that pipes and labour is required.
The affected classrooms in Kakuma Secondary School have been cleaned up and put back to use.
1,188 individuals are the immediately affected by lost houses and properties, but the breakage in the water pipeline affects about 50,000 refugees in the camp.
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