Unprecedented Floods and Landslides in Kenya Kill 188, Displace 165,000

A flooded area in the Mathare slums in Nairobi, Kenya on April 30, 2024. Han Xu / Xinhua via Getty Images

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Since March, flooding and landslides throughout Kenya have killed at least 188 people, with dozens still missing, according to the country’s ministry of the interior, as AFP reported. There have been at least 125 injuries with 165,000 people displaced.

The flooding has taken out bridges and roads while destroying homes and infrastructure. A flash flood on Monday killed at least 48 people in the town of Mai Mahiu in central Kenya, reported Reuters.

A heavy downpour caused a river to overflow its banks on Wednesday in the Maasai Mara wildlife reserve, stranding many people, including almost 100 tourists, AFP said.

“Accessing the Mara is now a nightmare and the people stuck there are really worried, they don’t have an exit route,” said Stephen Nakola, sub-county administrator of Narok West, who said there were likely to be waterborne diseases, as AFP reported. “I am worried that the situation could get worse because the rains are still on.”

Nakola told AFP bridges had been washed away and the area was currently inaccessible. Nakola added that roughly 50 camps at the reserve had been affected, causing more than 500 local workers to be temporarily unemployed.

Two helicopters had been deployed to rescue local staff and tourists who had been stranded, authorities said, according to CNN.

On Thursday, James Apolloh Omenya, a 27-year-old tour guide, told CNN that the sounds of rushing flood waters had awakened him. The water had risen to his waist, and the area surrounding Talek Bush Camp was submerged.

“My driver and I were the first to wake up, so we woke up all the 14 international tourists and 25 staff and climbed ladders to some water tanks that are raised,” Omenya told CNN. “We were being rained on from around 2 a.m. to 5.30 a.m. but we couldn’t get out.”

Kenya’s Red Cross said more than 90 people had been rescued, while more than a dozen camps in the area surrounding River Talek were closed.

Locals said the rainy season had flooded parts of the Mara before, but the extent of this year’s floods was unprecedented.

Rains last year came after the worst drought seen in decades in large swaths of East Africa, reported Reuters.

Red Cross workers from Kenya were helping residents marooned by floods in Kitengela, about 20 miles from Nairobi.

Highways and other roads had been closed because of flooding and debris.

“Kenya is facing a worsening flood crisis due to the combined effects of El Niño and the ongoing March-May 2024 long rains,” Jagan Chapagain, CEO of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said on X.

Pope Francis expressed his sympathy for people in the country at the Vatican on Wednesday.

“I… wish to express to the people of Kenya my spiritual closeness at this time as severe flooding has tragically taken the lives of many of our brothers and sisters, injured others and caused widespread destruction,” the pope said.

The Horn of Africa region, which includes Kenya, is a highly climate-vulnerable area, CNN said. Burundi and Tanzania were also severely affected by the deluge.

“The unfolding devastation highlights the government’s obligation to prepare for and promptly respond to the foreseeable impacts of climate change and natural disasters,” said Nyagoah Tut Pur, Human Rights Watch Africa researcher, as CNN reported.

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