Kenya orders flood evacuations as it warns dams could spill
Kenyans living near 178 damns and reservoirs have been told to evacuate as heavy rains continue.
The Kenyan government warned that the water bodies “have filled up or are nearly filled up and may spill over any time, posing a high risk to persons living in their neighbourhood.”
It gave residents living near them – as well as those within a 30m (98ft) wetland corridor of the Nairobi River – 24 hours from 18:30 local time on Thursday to leave.
Recent heavy rains have caused severe flooding and landslides across Kenya and Tanzania.
Some 188 people have died in Kenya since March, with a further 90 missing, according to the latest official estimates. A further 155 people have died in Tanzania.
At least 50 people are thought to have died when a mudslide tore through Kenyan villages near Mai Mahiu while they slept. Flooding has also affected the capital, Nairobi.
The number of people who have lost their lives in the Southern Kenya 🇰🇪 floods has risen to 188.#SouthernKenyafloods #floods #KenyaFloods #Kenya pic.twitter.com/K5Q6FJ55I3
— DISASTER TRACKER (@DisasterTrackHQ) May 2, 2024
