By Helen Nyambura-Mwaura

NAIROBI, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Floods in Kenya's northeastern and coastal areas have killed 23 people and displaced more than 80,000, the Red Cross said on Wednesday.

It also warned that heavy rains would take a toll on the flood-prone western region.

"From our countrywide assessment, we know of 23 people dead at the coast, the refugee camps and other areas of north eastern province," Linet Atieno, an information officer with the Kenyan Red Cross Society, told Reuters.

Government officials in the coastal province said thousands were fleeing the rising water for shelter in the hills of Kwale district.

Roads have been blocked and many students sitting national high school exams have been cut off from schools and examinations centres.

"The number of people displaced (are) 80,000 and thousands more are affected and at high risk countrywide," the Kenya Red Cross Society said in a statement.

"Flooding is also expected to occur in the traditional flood-prone areas of western Kenya, with rivers threatening to break their banks."

The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said the flash floods have destroyed hundreds of homes and killed a pregnant woman and a child in the Dadaab refugee camps in northeastern Kenya. Thousands of Somali refugees fleeing tension in their country have been pouring into the Dadaab camps in recent months.

Heavy rains have also been pounding the Horn of Africa beyond Kenya, bringing misery to parts of Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Eritrea. Thousands have been driven from their homes in southern Somalia.

"We are asking the international community to help the affected people," said Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, one of the Somali Islamist leaders in control of much of the country's south.

AlertNet news is provided by

Delicio.us  |   Digg  |   NewsVine  |   Reddit