{"id":11596,"date":"2024-04-25T13:44:45","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T13:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/?p=11596"},"modified":"2024-04-25T13:44:45","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T13:44:45","slug":"floods-cause-widespread-devastation-in-kenyan-capital-nairobi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/11596\/floods-cause-widespread-devastation-in-kenyan-capital-nairobi\/","title":{"rendered":"Floods cause widespread devastation in Kenyan capital Nairobi"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">Roads have turned into rivers in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, as a top official said flooding had &#8220;escalated to extreme levels&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">Heavy rain has pounded Kenya in recent days, causing widespread devastation.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">The UN says that at least 32 people have lost their lives and more than 40,000 have been forced from their homes because of the rain and flooding.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">Edwin Sifuna, who oversees Nairobi county,\u00a0posted footage\u00a0showing an entire neighbourhood flooded.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The situation in Nairobi has escalated to extreme levels. The County Government for all its efforts is clearly overwhelmed. We need all national emergency services mobilized to save lives. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NQb1dfbIwm\">pic.twitter.com\/NQb1dfbIwm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Edwin Sifuna (@edwinsifuna) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/edwinsifuna\/status\/1783037461653823744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">April 24, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In the clip, residents can be seen trapped on the roofs of their homes.<\/p>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">&#8220;The situation in Nairobi has escalated to extreme levels. The County Government for all its efforts is clearly overwhelmed. We need all national emergency services mobilised to save lives,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">Hundreds of others in Nairobi and nearby areas were marooned by floods following heavy rain overnight.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">Local media reported that residents of the Mathare slum had been forced to sleep on rooftops overnight.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">Major highways have been submerged by floodwater, causing traffic jams across the country.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">&#8220;The city is at a standstill because most roads are flooded,&#8221; Uber driver Kelvin Mwangi told the AFP news agency in Nairobi.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">A five-year-old boy who was left stranded by the flooding was rescued by a police helicopter in Yatta, south of Nairobi, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">&#8220;The child, visibly shaken by the ordeal after being stranded for quite a long period, was safely rescued and taken to a nearby hospital for care,&#8221; the Kenya Red Cross said.<\/p>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">Wider East Africa has also been badly affected by heavy rain in recent weeks.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">Nearly 100,000 people have been displaced in Burundi, while at least 58 people have died in Tanzania.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">One of the biggest drivers of heavy rain in East Africa is the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD).<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">The IOD &#8211; often called the &#8220;Indian Ni\u00f1o&#8221; because of its similarity to its Pacific equivalent &#8211; refers to the difference in sea-surface temperatures in opposite parts of the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">During a positive phase the waters in the western Indian Ocean are much warmer than normal and this can bring heavier rain regardless of El Ni\u00f1o.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">However, when both a positive IOD and an El Ni\u00f1o occur at the same time, as was the case last year, then the rains in East Africa can become extreme.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 bmLndb\">One of the strongest positive IOD patterns on record coincided with one of the strongest El Ni\u00f1o patterns in 1997 and 1998, with severe flooding reported. These caused more than 6,000 deaths in five countries in the region.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roads have turned into rivers in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, as a top official said flooding had &#8220;escalated to extreme levels&#8221;. Heavy rain has pounded Kenya in recent days, causing widespread devastation. The UN says that at least 32 people have lost their lives and more than 40,000 have been forced from their homes because [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11597,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":6,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"BBC","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"0","show_view_counter":"0","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"0","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"0","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"0","show_popup_post":"0","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,2362,34],"tags":[1922,111,1395],"class_list":["post-11596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-africa","category-featured","category-society","tag-flood","tag-kenya","tag-nairobi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}