A few weeks after the tragic landslide in Bududa in Mount Elgon, which cost the lives of several hundred people, have fresh torrential rains now added more misery when swollen rivers washed away bridges leading to the area.

Emergency personnel have reportedly been sent to the scenes to assess the damages and as and where possible begin emergency repairs, but a full restoration of road links may take well until after the rainy season is over, when the construction sides are safe and further rains do not wash away whatever repairs may now be done. The flow of supplies, but also access to schools, health centres and other social services now remains severely impeded in the Bududa area.

Additional new landslides in the immediate vicinity of where the original disaster occurred were also reported in the media a few days ago, underscoring the need to continue moving people out of the park area and into safer zones further down the mountain or other parts of the region.

The same part of the country was already in 2007 subjected to flooding and destruction and as a result of the El Nino induced current heavy rainy season across Eastern Africa many parts of the region are suffering of similar problems as repeatedly reported here.