Kenya floods death toll nears 170 as president vows help for his country's "victims of climate change"

Kenya floods death toll nears 170 as president vows help for his country’s “victims of climate change”

April 30, 2024 Benjamin Hughes

Nairobi — Kenyan President William Ruto convened a special cabinet meeting Tuesday to discuss measures to tackle deadly floods that have killed nearly 170 people and displaced 185,000 others since March, his office said. Heavier than usual monsoon rains, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern, have devastated the East African country, along with neighboring Tanzania, engulfing villages and threatening to unleash even more damage in the weeks to come.

In the worst single incident, which killed nearly 50 villagers, a makeshift dam burst in the Rift Valley region before dawn on Monday, sending torrents of mud and water gushing down a hill and swallowing everything in its path. It was the deadliest incident episode in the country since the start of the rainy season.

So far, 169 people have died in flood-related disasters, according to government data.

Search and rescue efforts continue after the collapse of the Old Kijabe Dam in Kenya — Bodies are removed from the rubble as evacuation and search and rescue efforts continue in the flood-affected Mai Mahiu and Naivasha regions in Kenya, April 30, 2024.

Gerald Anderson/Anadolu/Getty

The cabinet will “discuss additional measures” to address the crisis, Ruto said Monday on the sidelines of a summit of African leaders and the World Bank in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Source: cbsnews.com