Floods in Kenya lead to missing scores of people.
Around 76 individuals are unaccounted for after heavy flooding hit Mai Mahiu, a town situated northwest of Nairobi. The disaster was reportedly caused when water poured through a blocked tunnel under a railway bridge, resulting in the deaths of 71 people.
In addition to these casualties, 10 others are missing across Kenya's eastern region, with four in Nairobi County and one in the coastal region adjacent to the Indian Ocean.
The floods have forced over 190,942 people to flee their homes, according to Isaac Mwaura, a government spokesperson. This figure is roughly 5,000 higher than Monday's count.
Mais Mahiu appears to be especially impacted, with 147,000 locals displaced - equating to 77% of the total displacement in the country, Mwaura stated.
A CNN team in Mai Mahiu discovered an overpowering odor, leading locals to suspect a body was buried beneath a mound of tree trunks and mud. One resident, a motorbike taxi driver preferring anonymity, recounted providing fuel for a power saw that had been used to cut down the uprooted trees.
"Request the government to send us excavators," he urged.
President William Ruto has responded by ordering military personnel to aid in the search for missing people.
A body of a young man was retrieved from the flood ruins earlier in the day in a nearby region of Mai Mahiu. This discovery was made after residents heard a mobile phone ring, prompting them to dig. It reportedly took hours for them to find the body on Monday and Tuesday.
To accommodate displaced persons, Mwaura specified 52 "displacement camps" have been established (increased from 50 on Monday). These camps are designed to provide housing alternatives for those affected by flooding.
Rainfall is predicted to continue until May 6th, potentially exacerbating the current flooding situation. Mwaura expressed his concern about this, as the government provides food, non-food items, offers rescue and evacuation, and establishes camps.
Heavy rain has been escalating in Kenya since mid-March and has intensified over the last week, causing severe flooding that has killed many individuals.
Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General and CEO of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), stated in a post that Kenya is experiencing a growing flood catastrophe, influenced by El Niño and the March-May 2024 rainy season.
El Niño, a climate pattern initiating in the tropical Pacific, has already caused more than a hundred deaths and extensive damage since November 2023, Chapagain highlighted.
The Horn of Africa, a region which encompasses Kenya, is renowned for its climate vulnerability, and the recent downpours have also affected Tanzania and Burundi.
The recent rains may have intensified because they fell on hard, parched soils, following years of catastrophic drought that killed livestock and crops, leading to food insecurity and water scarcity. A World Weather Attribution analysis revealed that the drought was made 100 times more likely due to pollution from fossil fuels.
CNN's Louis Mian, Irene Nasser, and Helen Regan contributed to the reporting.
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Source: edition.cnn.com
