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KENYA – Kenyan President, William Ruto, convened a special cabinet meeting Tuesday to discuss measures to tackle deadly floods that have killed nearly 170 people since March.
The floods have also displaced 185,000 since the same period.
Heavier than usual monsoon rains, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern, had devastated the East African country, along with neighboring Tanzania, engulfing villages and threatening to unleash even more damage in the weeks to come.
This is according to a report by CBS News.
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.
Read more: Over 35 killed after dam bursts in Kenya, as weeks of heavy rain devastate region
It was reportedly the deadliest incident episode in the country since the start of the rainy season.
So far, 169 people had reportedly died in flood-related disasters, according to government data.
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.
“My government is going to… make sure that citizens who are victims of climate change, who today are suffering floods, they are suffering mudslides, are looked after,” he said.
The Rift Valley deluge cut off a road, uprooted trees and washed away homes and vehicles, devastating the village of Kamuchiri in Nakuru county.
Nakuru governor, Susan Kihika, said 110 people were being treated in hospital.
Opposition politicians and lobby groups had accused the government of being unprepared and slow to react despite weather warnings, demanding that it declare a national disaster.
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