8,000 displaced in floods mayhem

Photo/COSMAS MUTINDA
A commercial building constructed on a waterway was damaged by flood waters on Kitengela’s Barose Road. The road has also been damaged cutting off hundreds of residents in New Valley area from the Namanga-Nairobi highway.

What you need to know:

  • Nairobi listed among risk areas as rivers swell and heavy rains destroy crops, bridges and kill livestock

More than 8,000 people have been displaced and 36 killed as heavy rains wreak havoc across the country.

Property and crops worth millions of shillings have been destroyed.

The Ministry of Special Programmes yesterday said five people were still missing while 42 had been injured.

Permanent secretary Andrew Mondoh asked people living in floods-prone areas to move to higher grounds and issued alerts in Budalang’i, Kano, Nairobi and its environs, Pokot, Baringo and Wareng and the Coastal strip.

Traffic was disrupted on Mombasa/Nairobi Road on Tuesday night when River Aroi burst its banks at Sultan Hamud. Police had a hard time controlling motorists in a jam that stretched for 13km on both sides.

In Kitengela, hundreds of families have been cut off from their homes after floods destroyed roads.

The most affected area was New Valley which has been submerged since Sunday.

In Teso North, more than 20 houses were submerged and 13 cows swept away in Amurai and Kamolo.

Marakwet’s fresh produce farmers are counting their losses after roads were destroyed. And for the second time in less than a week, Narok town was submerged in water, destroying property worth millions of shillings in shops and homes.

Two tour van drivers cheated death when they attempted to cross a flooded Sikinani river.

The vans were swept downstream as helpless tourists — who had alighted earlier — watched from a distance. They had to abort the trip to the Maasai Mara.

The rains also disrupted business in Kitui where most premises remained shut during the day. In Nairobi, motorists were stranded in the jam after heavy rains clogged the rush hour. Police blamed the jam on blocked drainage and poor driving habits. Weather forecasts show the heavy rains will continue until May in parts of the country.

Reports by Lilian Onyango, Mark Agutu, Antony Kitimo, Raphael Wanjala, Ponciano Odongo, John Kisu, George Sayagie, Philemon Suter and KNA