Nairobi, Apr 15 (IANS): Heavy rainfall has displaced thousands of people and left hundreds of animals killed in Kenya's arid areas since March, the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) said.

The rains followed a severe drought that had impacted at least 21 of the 47 counties in the East African nation.

The NDMA said on Friday that nearly 5,000 households had been affected by the rain-triggered flash floods, leading to displacement, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Flash floods were reported in Marsabit, Mandera, Garissa, Isiolo, Samburu, Narok, Taita Taveta and Wajir counties," said the agency in its April report released in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

With the pastoralist communities in Kenya having up to 10 members in each household, the number of affected people is huge. Some 4,000 animals, including cattle, goats, camels and sheep had been swept away, according to the NDMA.

It is a double tragedy for the pastoralists as the animals had survived a severe drought that lasted more than a year.

The NDMA, however, insisted that the downpour is yet to impact pasture and food production systems in the arid areas. Therefore, the number of people in need of assistance still stands at 4.4 million.

"Acute malnutrition has also been noted across the counties with 970,214 children aged 6 to 59 months and 142,179 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers currently malnourished acutely in need of treatment," the NDMA said.