The Ministry of Interior has issued flood alerts to five regions, warning of temporary evacuations in some areas as heavy rainfall continues to pound the country over the weekend.
In a statement on Saturday, November 30, the ministry said flood alerts are being issued for North Eastern, which includes the counties of Marsabit, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, and Isiolo, as well as South Eastern, which comprises Machakos, Kitui, Makueni, and Taita-Taveta counties.
The others are parts of Tana River County and the Coast region, which has the counties of Mombasa, Kilifi, Lamu, and Kwale, as well as Central, which includes Nairobi, Kiambu, and Murang’a.
Areas within the South Rift Valley that has Nakuru, Kajiado, Bomet, and Kericho are also listed in the advisory.
According to the government, the regions are likely to experience storms over the weekend. “At the same time, flood alerts have been issued in North Eastern, South Eastern, Coast, Central and South Rift Valley regions where storms are anticipated over the weekend but expected to subside next week,” reads part of the notice.
On Thursday, November 28, Kenya Meteorological Department Director General David Gikungu confirmed that heavy rains are expected to persist in areas including the Highlands East region, parts of the Rift Valley, the Lake Victoria Basin, and various other regions, such as the Coastal, North-western, and North-eastern Kenya.
Gikungu's weekend advisory projected the likelihood of isolated heavy rainfall during the first part of the weekend.
The expected rainfall is not only anticipated to be widespread but also intense, with occasional thunderstorms disrupting normal weather patterns.
Kenyans living in the Highlands East counties—such as Nyandarua, Laikipia, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Murang'a, Kiambu, Meru, Embu, Tharaka Nithi, and Nairobi—are urged to prepare for moderate to heavy rains over the next five days.
These areas are expected to experience consistent rainfall from the morning through to the afternoon, though, as the forecast period progresses, rainfall is expected to extend into the night during the final two days.
As a result, the Ministry of Interior has said the government will conduct temporary evacuations in flood-prone areas.
Already according to the government, evacuation is ongoing in areas such as Kapuothe, Nanga, Lower Katuoro, Wigwa, and part of Dunga in Kisumu Central Sub-county. In these areas, about 200 households have been affected by floods, with approximately 100 acres of crops washed away.
“A total of 47 households are being hosted at Nanga Primary School and are receiving humanitarian support from the State Department for Special Programmes, and Red Cross, and other agencies,” stated the Ministry of Interior.
