Heavy rains pounded parts of Nyanza Province for the second time in 24 hours as flood-related death toll climbed to five. The region braced for worse times ahead as the downpour appeared to be an early arrival of the predicted El Nino phenomenon. Police yesterday confirmed four of the deaths had occurred in Kisumu on Sunday night while the fifth victim, a ten-year-old child, drowned in a swollen river in Migori.

A woman and her children head to their submerged home in Kapuothe Village, Kisumu Town East District. Area OCPD Nicholas Musilu said the four earlier victims were from Maseno, Kibos, Nyamasaria and Bandani areas. The body of a man who drowned in river Kisat was yesterday recovered on the shores of Lake Victoria. Police identified him as Hagai Mugingo, 39.

As families mourned the deaths of their loved ones, most Nyanza residents were fearing the worst as thunder cracked and another downpour loomed last evening. The Kenya Red Cross Society officials yesterday described the flooding as worrying and called for emergency preparedness. A senior Kenya Red Cross official Elijah Muli said the organisation's officials have been dispatched to the affected areas.

"Initial surveys indicate things are bad and many people may need to be evacuated. They will also need drugs and food," he said. He identified most affected areas as Kisumu and its environs, Ombeyi and Miwani in Nyando. At least two schools in North East Kano â€" Magare and Nyalenda â€" had their roofs blown off by the winds, area MP Ayiecho Olweny confirmed.

Prof Olweny said the floods had also affected several families. At Nanga and Wasikosi near Kisumu, more than 20 homes were submerged as heavy rains continued to pound the region. The rains have destroyed roads and disrupted electricity supply in many parts of the town. Residents of Kiboswa went without electricity for the second day yesterday after the Sunday downpour.

Two TV stations â€" KTN and NTV â€" were off air in Kisumu since Monday after a power supply to a transmission mast at Kiboswa was cut off by the rains. Nakumatt supermarket managers and several other shop owners at the Mega City mall were still counting their loses following the Sunday night flash floods that left goods worth millions of shillings soaked in water.

At Nyamasaria, Dunga and Nyalenda areas residents had to use gumboots to access their houses. The rains have also uprooted trees, ripped off roofs and damaged perimeter fences.

A woman residing at Nanga village, Ms Janet Oyugi, broke into tears after her semi-permanent house was brought down by the storm. "I am now homeless and my child cannot go to school. I have to put up with friends. It's such a terrible encounter," she said amid sobs. Nyando DC Isaiah Tonui said the Government was on high alert to assist families likely to be displaced as the torrential rains are predicted to continue.

Nyanza PC Francis Mutie said the Government was closely monitoring the situation. In some places families had started preparation to relocate to higher grounds. From Nyatike on the Kenya-Tanzania border through Karachuonyo and Kano in Nyando to Siaya and Bondo, worried villagers have been staring into the sky for signs of rains in the flood-prone region.

Last month, the Kenya Metrological Department reported that Kenyans should brace for El Nino type of rainfall, although not as severe as the one that occurred ten years ago.

The department predicts heavy storms, especially during the peak in November. In areas like Kano and Nyando, dry weather and heavy rainfall are a menace. "It has not rained for the last three months, and as a result most of the crops have dried up," says Ernest Nyaidi, a retired civil servant.

Nyaidi adds that crops such as vegetables have withered, and in some extreme cases dried up. He says cabbages often thrive with fairly abundant rainfall, but the current drought hurt farmers. "I am fortunate to have a piece of land uphill. If the El Nino rainfall comes, I will put up house on this parcel of land," Nyaidi, 61, says.