According to reports, at least 155 people have died in Tanzania and 13 in Kenya due to record rainfall, resulting in floods and landslides.
Eastern Africa is experiencing an extreme rainy season due to the impact of the El Niño climate phenomenon, leading to deadly consequences.
The Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya, devastated by torrential rain on April 24. (Photo: AFP).
On April 25, Tanzania reported that 155 people had died in various disasters, while floods in neighboring Kenya resulted in 13 fatalities.
Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa stated: “The heavy rains in recent weeks have caused floods and landslides in many areas of the country. Over 51,000 houses and 200,000 people have been affected. The country has recorded 155 deaths, 236 injuries, and over 10,000 houses damaged to varying degrees.”
Meanwhile, neighboring Kenya is urgently searching for the deceased and missing persons—one day after floods in several districts of the capital Nairobi and surrounding areas cut off roads and railways.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), prior to this flood, at least 32 people had died and over 40,000 had been displaced in Kenya since the rainy season began in March.
Kenyan President William Ruto stated during a meeting aimed at coordinating response efforts to the floods: “We need to alert the public” and emphasized the necessity of relocating residents from threatened areas.
Vice President Rigathi Gachagua also warned the public about forecasts for the upcoming week, indicating that the country would experience above-normal rainfall.
Continuous Rain for Months
The World Meteorological Organization warned on March 5 that several other countries in the region are affected by unusually heavy rainfall due to a new El Niño event that began in mid-2023 and could last until May.
In addition to rising temperatures, El Niño is causing droughts in some parts of the world and heavy rains in others.
In Burundi, the government reported last week that 96,000 people had been displaced from affected areas due to nearly constant rainfall over the past few months. In Somalia, at least four people have died since April 19 when a flash flood occurred.
In fact, El Niño has previously devastated East Africa.
Residents of the Mathare slum drying mattresses on their roofs after heavy rains in Nairobi, Kenya, on April 24. (Photo: AFP).
Last December, at least 89 people died in landslides and floods due to heavy rains in northern Tanzania. In Somalia, more than 1 million people were displaced due to flooding.
Across the East African region, over 300 people have died from these extreme weather events.
Notably, from October 1997 to January 1998, massive flooding caused by torrential rains from the El Niño effect resulted in over 6,000 deaths across five countries in the region.
