Torrential rains have killed at least 81 people in Kenya this March, with flash floods submerging villages, destroying crops, and displacing over 5,600 families nationwide.
Nairobi recorded the highest death toll-37 fatalities-as streets transformed into rivers and slum neighborhoods faced evacuation orders due to rising water levels near the Nairobi dam.
In western Kisumu County, flash floods wiped out roughly 1,200 hectares of farmland. In Nyakach, entire homes vanished underwater, forcing residents like Kennedy Oguta to flee with livestock in search of dry ground.
"We still don’t know where we are going to get shelter... there is no house that is not flooded," Oguta said.
Landslides in Kasaka buried homes, killing two, while two others drowned in Kiambu overnight. Authorities urge extreme caution as rain is forecast to continue.
Critics are demanding accountability from Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, who pledged drainage upgrades in 2022 but has yet to deliver systemic relief.
Scientists link the intensifying deluges to human-driven climate change, which has amplified both droughts and extreme rainfall across East Africa over the past two decades.