5 Regions At Risk Of Major Flooding After Nairobi Havoc

The Ministry of Interior has issued flood alerts to five regions, hours after floods wreaked havoc in Nairobi on Friday, November 29, exposing the long-standing challenges on the city's drainage systems.

In a statement on Saturday, November 30, the Ministry revealed that during the past week, counties in the Lake Victoria Basin and North Western regions have experienced heavy rainfall resulting in isolated cases of flooding.

"At the same time, flood alerts have been issued in North Eastern, South Eastern, Coast, Central and South Rift Valley regions where storms are anticipated over the weekend but expected to subside next week," the Ministry stated in part.

It was further revealed that evacuation is ongoing in areas such as Kapuothe, Nanga, Lower Katuoro, Wigwa, and part of Dunga in Kisumu Central Sub-county where about 200 households have been affected and approximately 100 acres of crops washed away.

Vehicles on a flooded road in Nairobi on November 29, 2024, following heavy rains. /PHOTO

Furthermore, a total of 47 households are being hosted at Nanga Primary School and are receiving humanitarian support from the State Department for Special Programmes and Red Cross and other agencies.

In Kisumu East Sub-county, a total of 140 households have been affected by floods. The affected villages include Onjweru, Kanyawade, Kaloo, Kodie, Awuor Ajwang' Kodeyo, Alara, Kowuore, Kabuong Kanyawade, Kamiendi and part of Kachola.

"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 Interior Ministry added.

The statement went on to warn residents of flood-prone areas that they may be temporarily relocated for their safety and are urged to cooperate with these response teams.

On Friday, pedestrians and motorists found it nearly impossible to navigate through Nairobi's central business district on Friday night as heavy rains caused severe flooding, turning major roads into rivers of dirty water.

Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Street were among the worst affected, with commuters struggling to find dry ground, while some pedestrians were even pulled on handcarts across flooded sections of city roads to avoid being soaked.

This recurring problem underscores the city's long-standing issue with poor drainage, which has left Nairobi vulnerable to flooding every rainy season, a matter that has affected all three county regimes.

The situation is worsened by the inadequate infrastructure, much of which was built during the colonial era to serve a much smaller population of less than 500,000 people. Today, Nairobi's population has surged to nearly five million, but the drainage system has not been upgraded to match this rapid growth.

Geoffrey Mosiria, the Nairobi County Chief Officer for Environment, has attributed the flooding witnessed in Parklands and sections of the city to the actions of unscrupulous developers. While visiting flooded roads on Saturday, November 30, Mosiria exposed that some developers had built their houses on river and road reserves. 

In some instances, the developers replaced constructed walkways on top of existing drainages. Therefore, during a heavy rainy season, rainwater cannot find its way to the drainage system causing massive flooding on the roads and estates.

Consequently, he noted that the county government would engage with the developers to address the drainage issues. He opined the long-lasting solution would be to demolish the buildings that have been constructed along riparian land.

This is the current situation in parklands where developers have constructed above the river and diverted the river to the county drainage system, causing massive flooding on the road, As President Ruto promised to reclaim all riparian land very soon this problem will be a… pic.twitter.com/eUuKmWJBNW — Geoffrey Mosiria (@HonMosiria) November 29, 2024