KENYA: International agencies try to ease suffering in Kenya's flooded regions with deliveries of relief food

Record ID: 361086

  • Title: KENYA: International agencies try to ease suffering in Kenya's flooded regions with deliveries of relief food
  • Date: 22nd November 2006
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) PENNY FERGUSON, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP), SAYING: "In some places its not so easy for choppers to land, we just use the most practical method we possibly can, the most effective combination of method." WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME OFFICIAL LOOKING AT THE BOAT AS IT DEPARTS VARIOUS OF BOAT SAILING ON THE RIVER
  • Embargoed: 7th December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Social Services / Welfare
  • Reuters ID: LVA8S7U5Y4JD9G28RKQCXPMZ1C01
  • Story Text: International aid agencies are helping get food to people in Kenya who are grappling with the effects of devastating floods, which have killed over 100 people and displaced more than one million across Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Rwanda.
    Along the banks of numerous rivers in the region, hundreds of small-scale farms have been ruined by floodwaters, and officials fear already critical food shortages will become worse.
    Aid agencies and public health officials are bracing themselves for a surge in malaria cases. They fear other diseases such as cholera might break out from a lack of proper latrines and water hygiene.
    Poor access to transportation is also hampering aid efforts, so organisations like the World Food Programme (WFP) are simultaneously deploying helicopters and boats to reach communities in need.
    "In some places its not so easy for choppers to land, we just use the most practical method we possibly can, the most effective combination of method," said Penny Ferguson, an information officer with WFP.
    Forecasts suggest the rains could continue through December and spread into other countries in central and southern Africa.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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