Major roads leading to the Central Business District (CBD) in Nairobi on Monday morning experienced a heavy traffic snarl-up following heavy rains that began last night.
True to its nature, the morning rush to commute to work has been heavily affected, with reports of some roads flooding, adding to the already chaotic mayhem.
Major roads like Thika Superhighway, starting at KCA University, are experiencing slow traffic as the vehicles serving several commuters from the region build up towards the City.
On Waiyaki Way, commuters heading towards Westlands will have to contend with more than just the rainfall. Two minor accidents, less than 100 metres apart at Chiromo, added to the traffic snarl-up on the busy stretch, outbound from the CBD.
Most roads in Lower Kabete are also experiencing similar traffic delays.
Jogoo Road users are also experiencing a major traffic jam this morning, with the section between Donholm and City Stadium being the most affected.
Road users opting to use the Nairobi Expressway to escape the jam will not have a much easier commute as the check-out points are building up traffic and the roads they feed into are suffering the same fate.
On Saturday evening the Kenya Meteorological Department notified Nairobi residents that heavy rainfall, leading to flooding would be experienced between Sunday evening and Monday morning.
Director David Gikungu announced that the heavy rains would begin on Sunday at 3 pm and persist until March 11 at 9 pm but at around 8 pm on Sunday night, the rainfall started.
Other regions in the country were also warned of the oncoming rainfall with the weatherman predicting up to 30mm of rainfall in some of the regions.
'Heavy rainfall of more than 20mm in 24 hours is expected in parts of the Lake Victoria Basin, the Rift Valley, Highlands West and East of the Rift Valley including Nairobi area and southeastern lowlands on 9 March 2025,'' read a statement from Gikungu.
''The heavy rainfall is likely to intensify to more than 30mm in 24 hours and spread to part of northwestern Kenya on 10th March 2025. It is projected to reduce in intensity from 11 March 2025.''
He also issued a caution to travelers due to the expected flooding and the low visibility that comes with driving in heavy rainfall as well as the slippery roads.
