West Pokot Director of Meteorological Services Wilson Lonyang'ole has claimed that residents in West Pokot county had been asked to vacate the area prior to the landslide which hit the county on Saturday.
According to Lonyang'ole, residents of Nyarkulian, Parua, Sepit and Muino villages had been cautioned on Tuesday last week. Some of the residents reportedly took the alert, which was issued out through radio stations seriously and vacated to Pokot South Constituency which is a higher ground.
“We gave our advisory, asking people to keep off the highland areas until when the rains subside. Some of them heeded the advice but others unfortunately ignored,” Lonyang'ole said.
The county government and national government were also allegedly warned of the bad weather.
“We send our advisories and warning to local county and national government officials through emails. It is just unfortunate that it has led to this desperate situation,” he stated.
The weatherman further pointed out that the heavy rains may persist until Monday hence cautioning the government to vacate the residents from highlands. The rain may start subsiding as from December 2.
West Pokot County Director of Disaster Response Joseph Masharipu admitted that the warning was issued but added that a good number of the residents did not get the information.
Residents of Elgeyo Marakwet and the neighbouring areas were also cautioned of possible landslides. The county's senator Kipchumba Murkomen has pleaded with the residents to vacate to safer places.
As on Monday, more than 40 people had been confirmed dead with scores left nursing injuries.