Death toll from devastating floods in Kenya rises to 257

At least 257 people have died and 188 have been injured in Kenya as a result of the devastating floods caused by torrential rains that have hit the country since mid-March and are expected to subside in the coming days, the Government reported this Wednesday.

The latest data released by the Kenyan Government spokesperson, Isaac Mwaura, indicate that in the last 24 hours the lifeless bodies of 19 people have been recovered, including 5 children, which increases the global death toll from the floods. from 238 to 257.

Likewise, according to figures provided by Mwaura on Tuesday, 75 people are missing.

Additionally, more than 293,000 people have been affected by the floods, which have washed away homes, roads and other infrastructure across the country.

Although the Government warned that heavy rains may continue in 31 counties in Kenya, the Department of Meteorology’s forecast points to a remission of the storms in the coming days, and the president, William Ruto, ordered the reopening of schools on Monday coming.

The president announced this Wednesday that the Executive will provide funds for the rehabilitation of schools damaged by floods and that it will get involved in the repair of affected roads.

Ruto declared next Friday a national holiday for “remember those affected by the floods”.

In a visit on Monday to the Nairobi suburb of Mathare – with a population of approximately half a million inhabitants and hit hard by floods – Ruto promised that all his residents would receive financial help to rent houses for three months, “while the Government restores their livelihoods.”

However, many of those affected in that and other marginal neighborhoods of the capital assure that they have not received any housing alternative.

In this sense, the organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced that the Kenyan Government did not act in time or respond adequately to the serious floods, despite the weather forecasts it had.

This year, the long rainy season, which runs from March to May and affects all of East Africa, has been intensified by the El Niño meteorological phenomenon, a change in atmospheric dynamics caused by the increase in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean.