NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 9 — The death toll from devastating flash floods in Nairobi has risen to twenty-seven, with fatalities including two children and three women.
Nairobi West County Commissioner Rose Chege said most of the bodies recovered so far remain unidentified and will undergo postmortem examinations.
She urged families searching for missing relatives to visit the Nairobi City Mortuary to assist with identification.
“A total of 27 fatalities, including 22 males, three females, and two children, have currently been recorded, pending identification and postmortem examination,” Chege said Monday.
Authorities appealed to anyone with missing family members or friends following the floods to report to the mortuary, as rescue and recovery operations continue.
The fatalities follow exceptionally heavy rainfall over the weekend, which triggered widespread flooding across the capital and other parts of the country, destroying homes, businesses, and infrastructure.
According to the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD), Nairobi recorded some of the highest rainfall totals in recent months, overwhelming drainage systems and leaving several neighborhoods submerged.
KMD forecast
Mary Kilavi, Assistant Director at KMD, said the agency had issued warnings ahead of the intense rainfall expected between March 4 and March 8.
“We had indicated that we would experience very heavy rainfall amounts from the 4th up to the 8th,” Kilavi said Monday in an interview with Citizen TV.
“We saw the rains begin to subside slightly on Sunday, and current model forecasts suggest a gradual reduction in rainfall amounts and spatial coverage in the coming days.”
Rainfall measurements from monitoring stations across the capital revealed staggering totals over the two days.
At Moi Air Base, meteorologists recorded 67.3 millimeters of rainfall on Friday and 145 millimeters on Saturday.
Dagoretti received 51.3 millimeters on Friday and 112 millimeters on Saturday, while Wilson Airport registered 88 millimeters on Friday and 160 millimeters on Saturday.
Kabete recorded 121 millimeters on Friday and 117 millimeters on Saturday, having already received 144 millimeters earlier in the week on March 2.
The Ngong area experienced heavy rainfall, recording about 116 millimeters on Friday.
The intense downpours caused widespread flooding across Nairobi, sweeping away homes, submerging roads, and forcing evacuations in several flood-prone areas.
The Kenya Red Cross reported that the national toll from the ongoing floods continues to rise.
“The most recent data shows that 42 people are dead and over 50,000 displaced across the country,” said Dr. Ahmed Idris, Secretary General of the Kenya Red Cross.
“Unfortunately, we anticipate this number will increase as search and recovery operations continue and teams look for missing people.”
Government officials said Nairobi accounts for the majority of the fatalities, while other deaths have been reported in Eastern, Rift Valley, Nyanza, and Coastal regions.