Flash floods and landslides continued to ravage Kenyan villages early Monday, killing at least 42 people and pushing the death toll from the devastating floods to 120.
The deaths were reported on Monday in the Mai Mahiu area, where the burst dam added to casualties from flash floods.
“We have so far recovered 42 bodies, which include 17 minors, following the early morning incident where a dam burst its banks in Kijabe area and rescue and search operations are going on,” police at the site in Mai Mahiu said.
On Saturday, government figures showed 76 people had been killed and more than 131,000 displaced. The floods have destroyed roads and bridges across the nation.
The government on Monday delayed the start of a new school term by a week.
The floods swept off people, houses and cars in the Kamuchiri area of the Rift Valley region in southern Kenya, Kithure Kindiki, cabinet secretary of the Kenyan Interior Ministry, said in a statement.
Mr. Kindiki added that bodies had been found along the path of the flash floods and the landslide, and that search and rescue operations were continuing on Monday.
The Interior Ministry has also ordered an inspection of all public and private water reservoirs within 24 hours.
Heavy rains have been pounding parts of East Africa for weeks, and the resultant flooding has killed hundreds of people in several nations in recent days and displaced tens of thousands more.
President William Ruto said his government is adequately prepared to mitigate the effects of this tragedy including a robust intervention program led by his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua. He also noted that about 10,000 people are already internally displaced in Nairobi due to floods.
“We already have food supplies in place, we already have support for those displaced and a 24-hour disaster center already established to coordinate government efforts.” Ruto said.
