More than 600 people were submerged by floods in homes, business premises, and on the roads after the River Nyando broke its banks on Sunday.

Ahero Bridge has been flooded, disrupting transport from Kisumu to Nairobi, Kisii, Homa Bay, and Migori.

Seven villages in Ombeyi have been submerged in water, and the bridge near Homa Lime in Muhoroni Sub-County has been destroyed.

Ahero Police Station, Ahero Girls High School, Ahero Sub-County Hospital, and Ahero Market have been stranded by flood waters, exacerbated by Lake Victoria's increasing backflow.

Several roads in Muhoroni, Nyakach, Nyando, and Kadibo sub-counties have been impassable, hampering rescue efforts.

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The Kenya Coast Guard and Kenya Red Cross teams have moved to the affected areas to help rescue the affected families.

Kisumu County Governor Prof. Anyang Nyong’o appealed to the national government to mobilize air support to help rescue the people stranded in their homes by floods.

“We have appealed to state departments with helicopters including the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF), Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to intervene and help us rescue the affected people.”

Further, he said the county government was making arrangements to hire boats to assist those marooned by floods to move to safer grounds.

Nyong’o asked people living near the rivers Nyando and Miriu to move to safer grounds because, given the ongoing rains, the rivers were expected to swell further.

He said the county government, which had already distributed food and non-food items worth Kes 4.8 million to the over 15,000 displaced people, was marshaling more support to reach out to more victims.

Other interventions in the pipeline, he said, included medical camps to support the affected families.

Additionally, he called upon well-wishers to donate food and non-food items to assist the displaced people.

“We appeal to well-wishers willing to donate food and non-food items to visit our collection centre at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Sports Complex in Kisumu,” he said.