Welcome to Africanews

Please select your experience

Watch Live

News

news

Many displaced as floods wreak havoc in Kenya

Kenyans walk on the pavement to avoid the flooded road after heavy downpour in Nairobi Saturday, Jan.13, 2024   -  
Copyright © africanews
Sayyid Abdul Azim/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.

Kenya

Heavy rains and flooding in Kenya caused more destruction in several parts of the country on Thursday.

Local media reports have put the death toll from flooding in recent days at 11, with over two thousand people displaced.

"We have people who have been internally displaced, who don't have a place to call home, no roof on top of their heads, their farmlands have been submerged,'' sqid Willis Omulo, a resident of Homa Bay in the country's west.

''We are also talking about high rates of wildlife animal conflict. Here we are talking about hippos that are marauding within the community, scavenging for pasture because their grazing lands have been submerged. This is really a threat to the community and [is] causing a lot of insecurity," he added.

Kenya's meteorological department had warned the country was set to experience very high rainfall and asked people to prepare for floods.

In Kirinyaga county, flood waters swept away community roads paralysing transport services. 

On Tuesday, 51 passengers were rescued after their bus was swept away by floodwaters on a bridge in northern Kenya.

View more