East Africa deluged as Tanzania, Burundi and Kenya receive massive amounts of precipitation
Photo shared by Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua (in hat) on his X handle @rigathi
A dam burst near a village in the Rift Valley region of southern Kenya in the early hours of April 29, 2024. Some 45 people have been killed according to the police chief of the Nakuru County, where the incident took place.
Samuel Ndanyi told the Kenyan Nation news outlet that 45 bodies had been recovered since the dam burst at 4 am local time and the waters swept everything in their path. The bodies were mostly of women, children and the elderly who were not able to run fast and escape the floodwaters, according to Ndanyi.
The incident happened at the Kamuchiri village near the town of Mai Mahiu, some 58 kilometres from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
“We share in the pain of families, friends and relatives who have lost loved ones in Maai Mahiu, Nakuru County, after the Old Kijabe Dam burst its banks, causing massive flooding. I visited the strip that was hit hard by the raging waters at Maai Mahiu,” Rigathi Gachagua, the deputy president of Kenya, posted on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
“The damage is deep and devastating. It has also triggered a massive humanitarian crisis akin to what has been witnessed in other parts of our nation as the enhanced rains leave trails of death, destruction and displacements. Nature’s fury is immeasurable,” Gachagua added.
The Kenyan Red Cross said in an update on its X handle that 109 people had been rescued and rushed to various hospitals in the town of Naivasha, also in Nakuru County.
“We have set up a tracing desk at Ngeya Girls Secondary School in Mai Mahiu, Naivasha. So far, 49 people have been reported as missing at our desk. Additionally, we are providing psychosocial support services to the affected families, alongside a multi-agency team,” the agency stated.
Besides the deputy vice president, Nakuru County governor Susan Kihika, Kiambu County (neighbouring Nakuru) governor Kimani Wa Matangi and Kenyan Roads & Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen also visited the affected area to assess the situation.
Kenya, along with neighbouring Tanzania and Burundi, has recently been hit hard by floods.
Down To Earth (DTE) has been covering the disaster in the region. Earlier, the director of Kenya’s meteorological services, David Gikungu, had told DTE that climate change was to blame for the extreme weather.
Read Deadly floods kill 38 in Kenya, destroy farmlands, property
Jagan Chapagain, the secretary general and chief executive of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, also singled out El Nino, the warmer phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation, as the culprit.
“Kenya is facing a worsening flood crisis due to the combined effects of El Nino and the ongoing March-May 2024 long rains. Since November 2023, El Nino triggered devastating floods and river overflows, causing more than a hundred deaths and widespread damage. As of 23 April 2024, these rains have already affected hundreds of thousands of people,” Chapagain posted on his X handle on April 28.
The situation in flood-affected Kenya demands immediate humanitarian assistance, he added.
“We have deployed resources to assist those who have been affected across our Nation. We are also putting in place measures of averting loss of lives and livelihoods,” Gachagua wrote in his post.
“Africa is not a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Africa accounts for only 2-3 per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions from energy and industrial sources,” according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, Africa is also the continent most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, the UNFCCC adds.
DTE had reported this February that “the Greater Horn of Africa region will likely witness wetter than normal and long-term rainfall surplus as well as drier than normal weather conditions in the March-May 2024 season”.
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