The death toll due to floods in Kenya has risen to 76, with 29 people injured and 19 still missing, a government spokesperson said as authorities ordered more evacuations of people from at-risk areas due to ongoing heavy rainfall.
Nairobi is currently experiencing the highest impact, with a significant death toll of 32 and 16,909 households displaced,” Isaac Maigua Mwaura said in a statement, adding that 24,196 households had been displaced – comprising about 131,450 people. Government and humanitarian agencies have erected 50 camps across the country to house those displaced, Mwaura said.
Earlier Friday, a truck carrying people in Makueni County, southern Kenya, “was swept away by raging waters,” according to the Kenyan Red Cross, which described it as “a distressing incident.” The Red Cross has rescued more than 300 people since the onset of the heavy rain in March.
This comes after Kenyan President William Ruto announced Thursday that he had authorized emergency crews to evacuate people living along riverbanks and other affected areas forcibly. “Unfortunately, we will have to move some of them even without them agreeing, because otherwise, they put themselves in danger,” Ruto said.
Culled from CNN