NAIROBI: Torrential storms that have triggered flash floods in Kenya have killed at least 81 people this month, authorities said Sunday (Mar 22), as rain continued to pound much of the country.
In the country’s hard-hit west, residents waded through flood waters with their belongings on their heads and evacuated in crowded boats, AFP reporters saw.
Flash floods submerged entire villages in Kisumu county, destroying around 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) of farmland and sweeping away crops.
More than 3,000 families have been forced from their homes in the community of Nyakach, with some sheltering in eight evacuation centres, locals said, as rising waters from the overflowing River Mirui continue to threaten the community.
“We have lost quite a number of farmlands with massive erosion, and the farm plants that we had planted ,” said the chief of Nyakach, Seth Oluoch Agwanda, 57.
The capital Nairobi has the highest death toll in the floods, with 37 people killed, authorities said.
“The cumulative number of fatalities has unfortunately risen to 81,” national police spokesman Muchiri Nyaga said in a statement.
“Additionally, flash floods have swept through several areas, displacing approximately 2,690 families and causing widespread destruction of infrastructure and property.”
On Friday night, authorities called on residents to evacuate several slum neighbourhoods downstream from the Nairobi dam, warning of an imminent risk of flooding as rising water levels threatened to breach the dam embankment, according to local media.
The dam has held so far.