Death Toll Rises, More Roads Closed Due To Flooding

By the time they woke up, there was nowhere to run. Winnie Mutiso and her siblings were marooned in their house, as their belongings floated in the flood waters.

She is among scores of people in Nairobis Kware area who woke up to the horror of a neighbourhood submerged in water.

Winnie, like many others in Kwares Kimono area, were caught unawares when the Ngong River broke its bank.

Many other tenants were unable to leave their homes after the river that quietly flows through their neighbourhood suddenly turned ferocious, sweeping everything its way downstream.

The area was inaccessible as the roads became impassable. Sewerage mixed with the flood water, putting residents at risk of water-borne diseases.

It has never been this bad, Winnie said, adding that it would get worse should it continue raining.

The foundations of the buildings are also being weakened, said Amos Amuko, adding that this is the making of a grand disaster.

Both Kware primary and secondary schools were not spared either, and the management of the institutions pleaded with the government to intervene.

Books and desks are destroyed Weve not been able to salvage anything. Even if the students open next week, were not sure if learning will resume immediately, board chair Onesmus Musyoka said, pointing at the submerged classes. And snakes are already roaming here. Just this week, alone, weve killed more than seven, making this place unsafe for the students.

For the last three nights, Winnie Atieno has had to wake up in the wee hours of the night to get rid of the water in her matrimonial home. Yesterday, she and her husband were almost electrocuted.

Following the rains, she narrated, they got home to a house full of water, almost to the level of electric connections and appliances that were on.

So bad was Tuesdays downpour that Thika Superhighway was for the first time, since the heavy rains began, closed down.

Motorists using the superhighway and those using the Thika-Garissa road, as a result, were stranded for the better part of Wednesday.

Traffic stretched from Githurai 45 to Kahawa Sukari near Kenyatta Universitys main campus following the flooding of the drift.

Several other roads across the city and the country were also cut off, with the authorities calling on road users to use alternate routes to their destinations.

Kimalat Bridge on Isinya-Kitengela road, and Langata road at T-Mall and Madaraka roundabouts were flooded and impassable. Same to the Eastern Bypass near Kamakis. Most sections of Ruiru-Kamiti road were flooded.

Mombasa road was also flooded at various points, including at Imara Daima, Cabanas and South C under pass area.

In Kiambu County, the situation was no better. With the Juja bridge underpass flooded, traffic stretched from Kimbo area to Juja town.

A train plying the Nairobi-Nanyuki route was forced to stop near Bidco in Thika as the area had been rendered impassable.

The flooding of Thika Road from Blue-Post Hotel saw many people from Muranga County and other neighbouring counties travelling to Nairobi stranded for hours.

In the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, tourists in several hotels, lodges and camps had to be evacuated in boats and helicopters from their rooms following flash floods resulting from the Telek river bursting its banks.

Videos on social media showed rescue helicopters hovering over the marooned leisure facilities as tourists were evacuated.

In Kitengela, Kajiado County, an entire estate was completely flooded following the overnight downpour. Several villages, including Kimalat, Sholinke and Tuala, also experienced heavy flooding.