At least 10 fatalities have occurred as Nairobi is experiencing heavy flooding following consecutive days of rainfall. Eight fatalities were caused by individuals being swept away by floodwaters while on the road. Some were stuck in their vehicles as the flooding increased on major roads, and two deaths occurred due to electrocution during the rains
According to Nairobi Police Commander George Seda, on Saturday, he told Radio Citizen that police officers are still gathering information about incidents reported across the city.
He also said that At least 71 vehicles were swept away, destroyed, and stuck in the flooding as major roads were blocked due to the flooding. The death toll may increase as the search efforts continue.
Videos from Friday night showed cars stuck in water on different roads across the city as rain, which started in the afternoon, continued through the night.
The Kenya Red Cross Society stated that several major roads were affected by flooding, including Uhuru Highway, Mbagathi Way, Mombasa Road around South C, JKIA exit, Thika Highway around Githurai and Kahawa Sukari, Jogoo Highway, Lunga Lunga Highway, Enterprise Highway, and Lang’ata Highway around T-Mall.
Floods were also experienced in other estates across Nairobi. The areas that were badly affected included Pipeline, Embakasi, which was cut off by flooding on Kware Road, Mukuru Kwa Njenga, Reuben, Viwandani, Kibra, Mathare, Huruma, and Baba Dogo, among others. In these areas, the Nairobi River was also swollen, causing it to overflow, leading people to spend the night out in the open.
Other areas that were also flooded included South B, South C, Nairobi West, Lang’ata, Chokaa, Umoja 3, Njiru, Roysambu, Kahawa West, Githurai, Loresho,Ruai, Utawala and Westlands.
To address the issue, Governor Johnson Sakaja has directed the formation of an emergency response team to help address the issue on the ground.
According to meteorologists, rain is not going anywhere for the coming days, although there is likely to be a lull around Wednesday, March 11.