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NAIROBI - The United Nations refugee agency has begun airlifting emergency aid to thousands of refugees after severe flooding hit a camp in northeastern Kenya, sweeping away thousands of temporary shelters.
Up to 80,000 people, mainly refugees fleeing Somalia, have been affected by the floods which have swept through the Dadaab camp over the past week.
Torrential rain has washed away much of the road leading to Dadaab from the main town in the Garissa district in the northeast, leaving the camps completely isolated.
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, flew in fuel, health kits and tarpaulins. The sanitation situation has deteriorated raising the likelihood of an outbreak of water-borne diseases, such as diarrhoea, cholera or typhoid.
Flights from Nairobi began to deliver 25,000 tarpaulins to provide shelter.
Fuel is needed for the camp's boreholes which provide clean water. UNHCR tried to deliver aid by road at the weekend but 4WD vehicles sank in the thick mud as the water levels continued to rise.
The short rains season in Kenya, which tends to last for a few weeks in October and November, has brought severe flooding across many parts of the country, which caught many unawares.
Torrential rain followed a long period of severe drought, which meant much of Kenya's farmland and arid plains were unable to absorb much water.
In Kenya's Coast region at least 12 people died and more than 60,000 were left homeless after floods hit suddenly. More rain is forecast over the next fortnight. A dam in eastern Kenya is on the brink of bursting, according to the UN.
The rains failed last year, leading to a drought which aid agencies claimed left up to 11 million people in the Horn of Africa on the brink of a food crisis.
Dadaab, less than 100km from the Somali border, is home to three refugee camps.
More than 160,000 refugees live there, many of whom have been there since fleeing the fighting in Somalia in 1991. Numbers have swelled in recent months following the fighting between warlords and the Islamic Courts in Mogadishu in June.
Talk between the transitional Government in Somalia and the Islamic Courts have broken down and regional analysts claim the country is on the brink of war.
Ethiopia has sent troops and arms to bolster the Government, while Eritrea has supplied weapons to the Islamic Courts.
Some 30,000 refugees have crossed the border since June, putting already-stretched resources under even more pressure.
Aid agencies working in Dadaab said the recent flooding has made the situation unbearable.
Mohammed Qazilbash, senior programme manager for refugee assistance for CARE in Kenya, said: "What was supposed to be the short rainy season has turned into a widespread disaster affecting over 100,000 people. Food storage facilities have been flooded, latrines have collapsed and a significant number of shelters, including one wing of the hospital in Ifo camp, have crumbled."
Spreading danger
* Dadaab, less than 100km from the Somali border, is home to three refugee camps. More than 160,000 refugees live there.
* Up to 80,000 people, mainly Somali refugees, have been affected by the floods over the past week.
* In Kenya's Coast region at least 12 people have died and more than 60,000 have been left homeless after floods hit suddenly.
* A dam in eastern Kenya is on the brink of bursting.
* More rain is forecast over the next fortnight.
- INDEPENDENT
