Officials have said that the death toll from weeks of devastating rains and floods across Kenya has risen to 228, warning that there was no sign of a let-up in the crisis.
While Kenya and neighboring Tanzania escaped major damage from a tropical cyclone that weakened after making landfall on Saturday, the government in Nairobi said that the country continued to endure torrential downpours and the risk of further floods and landslides.
In western Kenya for instance, the River Nyando burst its banks in the early hours of Sunday, engulfing a police station, school, hospital and market in the town of Ahero in Kisumu County, police said. There were no immediate reports of casualties but local police said water levels were still rising and that the main bridge outside Kisumu on the highway to Nairobi was submerged.
Weeks of heavier than usual seasonal rains, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern, have wreaked chaos in many parts of East Africa, a region highly vulnerable to climate change.
More than 400 people have been killed and several hundred thousand uprooted from their homes in several countries as floods and mudslides swamp houses, roads and bridges.
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Kenyan government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said at a briefing on the crisis that it was a serious situation and we should not take it lightly.
Across the border, the Tanzania Meteorological Authority declared that Tropical Cyclone Hidaya, which had threatened to pile on more misery, had “completely lost its strength” after making landfall on Mafia Island on Saturday.
“Therefore, there is no further threat of Tropical Cyclone ‘Hidaya’ in our country,” it said.
Tanzania remains one of the countries worst hit by the floods, with 155 people dead since early April. In Kenya, Mwaura said that while the cyclone had weakened, it had caused strong winds and waves on the coast and heavy rains were likely to intensify from later Sunday.
One fisherman had perished and another was missing, he added.
Across the nation, the disaster has claimed the lives of 228 people since March with 72 still missing, according to government figures.
More than 212,000 people have been displaced, with Mwuara saying many were “forcibly or voluntarily” evacuated.
The government has ordered anyone living near major rivers or dams to leave the area or face “mandatory evacuation for their safety,” with many dams or reservoirs threatening to overflow.
Story was adapted from VOA.
