A dam burst its banks near a town in Kenya’s Rift Valley, killing at least 42 people, the local governor said on Monday, as severe rains and floods ravaged the country.
The dam burst near Mai Mahiu in Nakuru county, destroying homes and blocking off a road. Rescuers were digging through debris to find survivors.
Nakuru governor Susan Kihika stated, “Forty-two dead, it’s a conservative estimate. There are still more in the mud, we are working on recovery”.
Monday’s dam collapse brings the total death toll from the March-May wet season to 120, as East Africa receives heavier-than-usual rainfall, exacerbated by the El Nino weather pattern.
Meanwhile, the Kenya Red Cross reported Monday that two bodies had been recovered after a boat carrying a large number of people crashed over the weekend in the Tana River county in eastern Kenya, adding that 23 others had been rescued.
The officials stated that 76 individuals have died in Kenya since March as of Saturday.
According to government estimates issued on Saturday, flash floods have swamped roads and neighborhoods, displacing more than 130,000 people across 24,000 houses, many of whom live in the capital Nairobi.
Schools have been forced to remain closed following mid-term holidays after the education ministry said Monday that it would postpone their reopening by one week due to ongoing heavy rains.
The monsoons have also caused havoc in nearby Tanzania, killing at least 155 people in flooding and landslides.
El Nino is a naturally occurring climate trend that is often connected with high heat around the planet, resulting in drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere.
More than 300 people were killed by rains and floods in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia late last year, just as the area was recovering from its worst drought in four decades, which had left millions hungry.
The UN’s World Meteorological Organization reported in March that the current El Nino is one of the five strongest ever recorded.
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