The heavy rains and floods in Kenya have been going on for several weeks. The number of deaths has now risen to 228. The Kenyan government announced this on Sunday. In total, more than 220,000 people are affected by the floods – especially in the capital Nairobi.
The government also warned of the cyclone “Hidaya” in the Indian Ocean, which could hit the coastal areas of the East African country. In Tanzania, which borders the south, the weather service gave the all-clear: the tropical storm reached the Tanzanian island of Mafia on Saturday evening and has weakened since then. It no longer poses a threat to Tanzania. Severe storms were forecast for both countries in the coming days – the population is urged to be cautious.
According to the UN emergency relief office OCHA, heavy rain and floods have been causing severe problems for the countries of Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Somalia, Rwanda and other parts of East Africa since March. Hundreds of people were killed.
The usual so-called long rainy season from March to May is being intensified this year by the El Niño weather phenomenon, which hit the region with storms and floods at the end of last year. Experts suspect that climate change has also exacerbated the regularly recurring weather phenomenon.
