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Crocs Ply Flood Waters As Killer Kenyan Storms Fry Pelicans
Nairobi (AFP) May 08, 2006 Dozens of man-eating crocodiles plied flood waters along Kenya's Indian Ocean coast on Saturday after heavy thunderstorms that killed at six people and fried nearly 50 pelicans, officials said. About 30 of the carnivorous reptiles were spotted swimming near children's playgrounds and municipal parks in Kilifi, frightening parents in the coastal town where floods have claimed at least six lives in the past week, they said. "We have confirmed that there are crocodiles in the flood waters that are fast approaching residential areas," Kilifi lawmaker Joe Khamisi told reporters in the town, about 550 kilometers (345 miles) southeast of Nairobi. "We fear they may harm children who like to swim," he said, adding that his constituents were worried the death toll might be higher due to the crocodiles, which slithered out of ponds and estuaries with the rising waters. The rains have exacerbated humanitarian crises brought about by a searing drought that has hit east Africa, inundating parched soil, bursting the banks of dry rivers and forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes. The floods have also increased the risk of waterborne diseases, destroyed crops and hamperered delivery of drought relief by cutting off key roads used by humanitarian agencies across the country. In addition to the human toll, lightning from a storm in the central Rift Valley town of Nakuru hit a tree where scores of pelicans had taken roost, electrocuting at least 49 of the large-mouthed birds on Friday, officials said. The carcasses of the pelicans, among the tens of thousands of birds that flock to Kenya's famed Lake Nakuru National Park, littered the grassy area around the tree, said government veterinary official Michael Cheruyoit.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links - Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters When the Earth Quakes A world of storm and tempest
No Need To Raise Alert Status For Indonesian Volcano
Jakarta (AFP) May 08, 2006Geologists said Sunday there was no need to raise the alert status for Indonesia's Merapi volcano nor evacuate tens of thousands residents on its slopes despite the continuing lava flows. |
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