In the early hours of Monday, a dam burst near Mai Mahiu, a town situated in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, exacerbating the region’s flood problem and resulting in the confirmed death of 45 people. The unfortunate event raises Kenya’s death toll from its ongoing flooding disaster to over 120 as authorities say they are still searching for survivors. According to the town’s resident, the makeshift dam collapsed during the night with the water that emerged overwhelming everything in its path. The resultant flood overturned vehicles, destroyed homes, and cut off a road. It also resulted in injuries to over 100 people who have since shown up to hospitals for treatment. Kenya and other East African countries have been experiencing record rainfall in recent times, aggravated by the El Niño weather pattern. Besides Kenya, the disaster has devastated Tanzania, with at least 155 people killed. It has also displaced over 200,000 people in neighboring Burundi and caused deaths in Uganda and Ethiopia.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN