Kenya issues floods alert amid heavy rains

Residents struggle with floods following a downpour at Bamburi in Mombasa County on November 17, 2023. [File, Standard]

The Kenyan government has issued a flood alert following heavy rains affecting several parts of the country.

Disaster response teams have begun evacuating more than 240 households impacted by the ongoing floods nationwide, the Ministry of Interior and National Administration said in a statement issued on Friday evening in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

Counties in the Lake Victoria Basin and northwestern regions have experienced heavy rainfall, leading to isolated cases of flooding, the ministry said.

"Disaster response teams, coordinated by national government administration officers, are monitoring the situation in various parts of the country and providing support to those affected," the ministry said.

It added that flood alerts have been issued for northern and eastern Kenya, as well as parts of the coastal and Rift Valley regions, where storms are expected over the weekend but are likely to subside next week.

The ministry also noted that evacuations are underway in Kisumu, a lakeside city, where about 200 households have been affected and nearly 100 acres of crops have been destroyed.

"Residents of flood-prone areas who may be temporarily relocated for their safety are urged to cooperate with the response teams," the statement added.

Earlier this year, unusual seasonal rains, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern, caused widespread disruption across Kenya, a country highly vulnerable to climate change.

Between March and June, heavy rains and floods claimed the lives of more than 300 people, injured 188 and left 38 missing. More than 293,200 people were displaced, and nearly 306,520 were affected, according to figures from the National Disaster Operation Center.