Deadly floods wreak havoc in Kenya’s capital

Storms and flash floods turned roads into gushing rivers and swamped homes with waist-high muddy water across the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, killing at least 10 people.

The East Africa region has been lashed by relentless downpours in recent weeks, as the El Nino weather pattern exacerbates the seasonal rainfall.

Across Nairobi, vehicles were stranded in the deluge and people waded through floodwaters in slum areas to reach safety.

According to the Nairobi county governor’s office, an estimated 60,000 people, mostly women and children, have been “severely affected” by the floods.

The Kenya Meteorological Department warned that “heavy to very heavy” rainfall was forecast in various parts of the country until May.

In one incident on Wednesday, police fired tear gas to disperse angry residents who had blocked a main highway with long queues of cars calling for government action over the floods.

Kenya Railways announced it was temporarily suspending commuter train services, while the roads authority said four roads in the capital had been partly closed.

Homes were engulfed in the sprawling Nairobi slum of Mathare, where residents took to rooftops to save their lives and belongings.

The Red Cross said the Athi River, the second longest in Kenya that runs south of Nairobi to the Indian Ocean, had burst its banks, blocking roads and leaving residents stranded.

In central Nairobi, where many government offices and the parliament are based, a main avenue was blocked by fallen trees.

Elsewhere in the region, nearly 100,000 people have been displaced in Burundi, while at least 58 people have died in Tanzania and several thousand made homeless.

El Nino often has devastating consequences in East Africa, a region already hit by repeated climate shocks. — AlJazeera