NAIROBI, KENYA: The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in Kenya’s capital Nairobi and other parts of the country has nearly doubled to 42, the government said in a statement late on Sunday.
Intense rainfall on Friday triggered widespread flooding, washing away vehicles, submerging streets, and disrupting operations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the country’s busiest airport. The previous death toll was 23.
Emergency workers from multiple agencies, including the military, continue search and rescue operations. “Search missions are still in progress by multi-agency emergency response teams with the aim of ensuring that bodies of all flood victims are found and retrieved,” said Geoffrey Kiringa Ruku, Minister for Public Service and Human Capital Development.
The floods have also caused extensive damage to infrastructure and livelihoods. Authorities reported that 172 vehicles swept away by the floodwaters have been recovered. Police and rescue teams have saved at least 29 people since Friday, and remain fully deployed to respond to distress calls.
On Saturday, President William Ruto ordered relief food from the country’s national strategic reserves to be immediately distributed to families affected by the floods.
The heavy rains come amid a growing pattern of extreme weather in East Africa. Scientists say global warming is intensifying both floods and droughts by concentrating rainfall into shorter, more violent bursts.
Aircraft deployed to locate stranded tourists after floods in Serengeti
A 2024 World Weather Attribution study found climate change had made devastating rains in the region twice as likely as before. Recent studies have documented increasing variability in rainfall across East Africa over the past two decades, with neighboring Somalia and Ethiopia also facing climate-induced disasters.
In Nairobi, residents expressed anger over the city’s poor drainage infrastructure. Governor Johnson Sakaja, who took office in 2022 promising improved stormwater management, faced sharp criticism online. “There’s no storm water drainage system… I haven’t seen any active flood management or even preparation for it by the county of Nairobi,” activist Nelson Amenya said on X. Opposition Senator Edwin Sifuna called for a “comprehensive review of how the city drains because piecemeal interventions are not working.”
The Kenyan Red Cross said hundreds of households in neighboring counties had also been affected, and large areas of farmland were destroyed. “We need joint efforts between the government and humanitarian agencies to deal with this problem and understand why we are experiencing such havoc,” said Red Cross spokesman Munir Ahmed.
Transport disruptions extended to airlines, with Kenya Airways diverting several flights from Nairobi to Mombasa due to the floods.
The latest disaster highlights the increasing vulnerability of urban centers in East Africa to extreme weather events, underlining urgent calls for better planning, infrastructure, and climate adaptation measures.
