The Kenyan capital Nairobi is suffering the worst impact from the downpours and floods with 32 dead and nearly 17,000 households displaced© LUIS TATO
An original article from AFP
Seventy-six people in Kenya have lost their lives to floods triggered by torrential monsoon downpours since March, the government said Saturday, warning residents “to brace for even heavier rainfall”.
Kenya and its East African neighbours have been battered by torrential rain compounded by the El Nino weather pattern© LUIS TATO
Kenya and its East African neighbours have been battered by stronger than usual rain in recent weeks, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern.
Flash floods have submerged roads and neighbourhoods, leading to the displacement of more than 130,000 people across 24,000 households, many of them in the capital Nairobi, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said Saturday.
“We deeply regret to announce the tragic loss of an additional six lives in the last 12 hours bringing the total to 76,” he said, adding that 29 Kenyans had suffered injuries and 19 been reported missing.
“Nairobi is currently experiencing the highest impact, with a significant death toll of 32 and 16,909 households displaced.”
Mwaura said all five dams comprising the Seven Forks hydropower project along the Tana river, Kenya’s longest, were at total capacity.
“There is a prediction of a massive overflow downstream within the next 24 hours. Residents in these areas are advised to move to higher grounds,” he said.
Aftermath of deadly floods in Nairobi’s Mathare slums© Raphael AMBASU
The monsoons have wreaked havoc across neighbouring Tanzania as well, with at least 155 people killed in flooding and landslides.
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“The situation here is really scary,” said Khatibu Kapara, a resident of Dar es Salaam’s Jangwani neighbourhood.
“Many people including myself have been affected by floods. Many people have lost their property due to floods, their houses have been surrounded” by water, the 35-year-old told AFP.
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