
The toll of lives claimed by flood-related incidents in Kenya has surpassed 200 since March, announced the interior ministry on Friday, coinciding with the looming threat of a cyclone approaching the Tanzanian coast.
Across East Africa, relentless rains have battered the region, triggering floods and landslides that have wreaked havoc, engulfing crops, demolishing homes, and displacing hundreds of thousands.
According to the interior ministry’s statement, the death toll in Kenya due to severe weather conditions has reached 210, with 22 fatalities recorded in the past 24 hours.
Moreover, over 165,000 individuals have been forced from their homes, with an additional 90 individuals reported missing, raising concerns of further casualties.
As Kenya and neighboring Tanzania brace for cyclone Hidaya, which has already claimed at least 155 lives in flooding, Tanzanian authorities issued warnings on Friday regarding the cyclone’s intensification.
By 3:00 am local time, Cyclone Hidaya had strengthened significantly, reaching full-fledged cyclone status and positioning itself approximately 400 kilometers (248 miles) from the southeastern city of Mtwara, with wind speeds reaching about 130 kilometers per hour.
Forecasts from Kenya’s interior ministry anticipate the cyclone’s arrival to bring strong winds, large ocean waves, and heavy rainfall to the coast, commencing Sunday.
Elsewhere in the region, Burundi has also suffered the consequences of unusually heavy rains, claiming 29 lives and leaving 175 individuals injured, with tens of thousands displaced since September last year, according to the United Nations.
These intensified rains have been attributed to the El Nino weather pattern, a natural climate phenomenon known for its global impact, resulting in droughts in some regions and heavy precipitation in others.
The recent calamities compound the challenges faced by the region, which is still reeling from last year’s devastation that claimed over 300 lives in rains and floods across Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia, exacerbating recovery efforts from the region’s worst drought in 40 years.
The cyclone season in the southwestern Indian Ocean typically spans from November to April, witnessing around a dozen storms annually.