The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in Kenya has increased to 42.
Intense rains on Friday unleashed heavy and widespread flooding, causing some people to drown, washing away vehicles, and disrupting traffic at Kenya’s largest airport, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
The previous death toll was 23.
The minister for public service and human capital development, Geoffrey Kiringa Ruku, said emergency workers from various agencies including the military were still conducting search and rescue operations across the country.
“Search mission is still in progress by the multi-agency emergency response teams with the aim of ensuring that bodies of all the flood victims are found and retrieved,” the minister said in a statement issued on Sunday night.
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The floods had also done extensive damage to infrastructure and livelihoods. But 172 vehicles that had been swept away by flood waters have been recovered, according to Reuters.
On Saturday, President William Ruto said he had ordered relief food from the country’s national strategic reserves be immediately released for distribution to families affected by the floods.
Scientists say global warming is worsening floods and droughts across East Africa by concentrating rainfall into shorter, more intense bursts. A 2024 World Weather Attribution study found climate change had made devastating rains in the region twice as likely as before.
