Kenya has been devastated by floods, leading to the loss of 76 lives since March, according to government reports on Saturday. The continuous heavy rains, worsened by the El Nino phenomenon, have wreaked havoc not only in Kenya but also across its East African neighbors.
The deluge has triggered flash floods, submerging roads and residential areas, compelling over 130,000 people from 24,000 households to evacuate. Nairobi, the country’s capital, has suffered the most, with 32 fatalities and nearly 17,000 households displaced.
Issuing a cautionary statement, government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura disclosed that all five dams of the Seven Forks hydropower project along the Tana river are brimming, posing an imminent risk of downstream overflow within the next 24 hours.
Residents in vulnerable areas have been advised to move to higher ground for safety.
The impact of the monsoon rains extends beyond Kenya, with Tanzania reporting at least 155 casualties due to flooding and landslides. In Burundi, around 96,000 individuals have been displaced by relentless rains, while Uganda has witnessed severe storms resulting in two fatalities and displacement of several hundred villagers.
The ongoing El Nino, characterized by heightened global temperatures, has induced drought in some regions while causing heavy rainfall in others.
The World Meteorological Organization has classified this El Nino as one of the five most intense on record, emphasizing the gravity of the weather conditions affecting East Africa and the urgent necessity for preparedness and response actions.