Kenyan President William Ruto on Tuesday deployed the military to evacuate everyone living in flood-prone areas after 171 people were killed since March as torrential rains pound the country.
Seasonal rains, amplified by the El Nino weather pattern, have devastated the East African nation, with floodwaters engulfing villages and threatening to unleash even more damage in the weeks to come.
In the worst single incident that killed nearly 50 villagers including children, a makeshift dam burst in the Rift Valley before dawn Monday, sending a torrent of water and mud gushing down a hill and swallowing everything in its path.
The tragedy in Kamuchiri village, Nakuru county, was the deadliest episode in the country since the start of the March-May rainy season.
Ruto, who visited the victims of the Kamuchiri deluge after chairing a cabinet meeting in Nairobi, said his government had drawn up a map of neighbourhoods at risk of flooding.
“The military has been mobilised, the national youth service has been mobilised, all security agencies have been mobilised to assist citizens in such areas to evacuate to avoid any dangers of loss of lives,” he said.
People living in the affected areas will have 48 hours to move, he added.
“The forecast is that rain is going to continue and the likelihood of flooding and people losing lives is real and therefore we must take preemptive action,” Ruto said.
“It is not a time for guesswork, we are better off safe than sorry.”