Problems
Flooding in Kenya is not a new phenomenon. For decades, the rainy seasons have brought a deluge that often overwhelms rivers and infrastructure. In the past, these floods were seen as natural disasters, striking unexpectedly and leaving chaos in their wake. However, a closer look at the patterns over the years reveals a more troubling narrative—one of repeated cycles and missed opportunities for prevention. The Underlying Causes Experts point to a confluence of factors behind the worsening floods. Urban planning has not kept pace with the city’s expansion, leading to blocked drains and inadequate sewage systems. Deforestation and poor land management practices have exacerbated the situation, reducing the land’s natural ability to absorb water. Climate change also plays a role, with the Indian Ocean Dipole and El Niño weather phenomena contributing to more extreme rainfall patterns. Impact of flooding in Kenya The human cost of these floods is immeasurable. Thousands have been displaced, losing homes and livelihoods. Flooding is associated with malaria, typhoid, and bilharzia (schistosomiasis) in Kenya. Additionally, Interference with culture, as seen in the congestion of households with children of up to 15 years hurdled with their parents in the camping structures, also contributes to social and health problems. Floods also enhance environmental degradation and destruction of homesteads. It also destroys the average economic production, distribution of goods, and food harvests. In many low-lying areas around the mouths of the rivers and natural swamps, the inundation lasts for weeks, leading to total loss of crops. The worst affected are people with low incomes who inhabit the flood plains and riverine lands to eke out a meager living from agriculture, livestock farming, and fisheries. They are the most vulnerable to floods and post-flood consequences because of poverty, lack of education, and poor rural infrastructure. The floods severely limit and hamper the developmental process, further increasing the vulnerability of the rural society and thereby perpetuating and increasing the incidence of poverty. Stagnant floodwater also causes vector-borne diseases, resulting in high morbidity and consequent loss of alternative employment opportunities. The drought, coupled with El Niño rains and extreme temperatures, underscores the climate change challenges that Kenya and other countries in the Horn of Africa are grappling with. It is a call to arms for policymakers, environmentalists, and citizens alike to come together and forge a path toward a more sustainable and flood-resilient future. The time for change is now before the next rains fall and the cycle of destruction begins anew.
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Timelines
2024
April 28
Heavy rains and flash floods have left more than 103 people dead, 29 injured, 21 people missing, 150,365 people (30,073 families) displaced, and nearly 191,000 affected across the country, according to the National Disaster Operations Centre (NDOC).
April 24
45 people lost their lives, and 109 were rescued in Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County, after a tunnel filled with debris and water succumbed to pressure due to heavy rains. Major flash floods have occurred in Nairobi, Makueni, West Pokot, and Machakos Counties, resulting in lost lives and properties and disrupted services.
2023
October
Severe flooding in Kenya had killed at least 1781 people, injured 242, and displaced thousands, caused by unusually active El Niño rains. Thirty-eight counties out of the 47 in the country have been affected by a dangerous combination of riverine floods, flash floods, and landslides.
2021
December 08
The Red Cross reported that almost 40,000 people have been displaced nationwide. Among the hardest hit areas are the counties of Tana River (3,864 displaced), Homa Bay (2,046), Kisumu (7,704), Busia (4,056), and Migori (5,022). IFRC said that some of those displaced are refuged in temporary camps in Ombaka (Kisumu), Nyatike (Migori), Osodo (Homa Bay), and Bunyala (Busia), while others have been housed by relatives, friends, and neighbors.
December 06
A bus carrying the Catholic faithful was swept away while attempting to cross a swollen river Enziu in Nguni, Mwingi. It is thought the bus was carrying passengers, which included choir members, to a wedding.
2018
April 29
At the peak of the rains in April, flooding was causing widespread damage. By May, approximately 150 people had died, and a further 310,000 had been displaced across 40 counties. Cropland and irrigation infrastructure, such as pumps and pipes, were extensively damaged. About 28 percent of the total crop in Turkana was destroyed. In other counties, the loss of cropland was as follows: 10,000 acres in Tana River, 12,355 acres in Embu, Kitui, and Makueni, 200 acres in Narok, 1,507 acres in Taita Taveta, and about 4,500 acres in Kilifi. Health facilities, schools, markets, and roads were destroyed, affecting access to health and education, the supply of food commodities and medical provisions, and food prices. Approximately 3,700 small stocks were lost across Wajir, Tana River, Garissa and Marsabit.
2016
April 29
Heavy rainfall has been observed in various parts of the country throughout the month of April. This intensified and resulted in widespread flooding in Nairobi, Kwale, Taita Taveta, and Turkana. A total of 34,129 people were affected. Nairobi County has so far experienced the worst effects of the rains and flooding, with lower-income slum areas of Nairobi amongst those worst affected.
2003
April
This season, Kenya experienced massive flooding in the Western Province at Budalang’i and the lower reaches of the Nzoia River and in Nyanza Province at Ahero within the lower Nyando River basin. Further, the heavy rains that caused the flooding disrupted the water supply in urban and rural centers and washed away river gauging facilities constructed along the rivers.
1998
The hazards and impacts of the El Nin˜o rains of 1997/8 demonstrated to Kenya the severe devastation of floods. The floods caused the loss of life of humans and livestock and disrupted socio-economic activities due to the extensive damage to property, infrastructure, and communication facilities, DMCN. Further, the floods were also associated with land degradation, increased soil erosion with the consequent silting of hydropower dams and erosion of riverbanks, which affected water intake facilities and river gauging facilities, which are the basis for the operation of the National Hydrological Services in the country. The flow-measuring structures washed away by the floods included weirs, water-level gauges, and data loggers.
1961
Uhuru Floods represent one of the early attempts of studies initiated to study the extent and magnitude of the flooding menace that inundated extensive low-lying areas and caused widespread damage and destruction of existing infrastructures, dams, bridges, homesteads, etc., as well as other facilities that existed then in Kenya.