Learning from past mistakes: Nairobi maps out key chokeholds to as it prepares to tackle El Niño

This is after the Kenya Meteorological Department issued advisories in August on the impending torrential rains from October to December, warning of wetter-than-normal or above-average rainfall.

The county has now formulated a plan to better combat the weather extreme and not fall victim to mistakes of the past to protect up to 100,000 residents or 20,000 households at risk. 

Nairobi previously experienced devastating flash floods that claimed lives and destroyed property. The most recent incident was witnessed earlier in March–May 2026, claiming at least 66 lives.

Many residents blamed poor infrastructural designs that cannot withstand heavy rains.

Bramwel Simiyu, the County Chief Officer for Disaster Management and Coordination, says that this time round, the County plans to use a multi-agency approach chaired by Governor Johnson Sakaja, which will involve the community and key disaster management institutions.

He has said that the county has mapped out 246 hotspots that are prone to be most affected based on previous severe outcomes.

"We've been able to build on those mistakes to build what we believe is an effective strategy to deal with these rains,' he said.

We have constituted a multi-agency team which has the fire brigade, disaster risk reduction unit, Red Cross and other actors, to come up with a response plan. But up to now we have seen a lot of effort in mitigation and prevention."

He intimated that the county has mapped out 246 hotspots but has placed more emphasis on chokepoints segmented into four corridors.

The first corridor, he says, includes the Nairobi Dam-Kibra corridor mostly affected by overflow from the Nairobi Dam, the second corridor covers the Mukuru-Industrial Area (Pipeline, Quarry, Imara Daima).

The third corridor includes the Dagoretti-Kawangware (Gatina, Muruku areas) and the fourth stretches from Mathare, Umoja towards Ruai areas, called the Northern and Eastern corridor.

The county has also identified areas to build 172 holding centres close to the mapped-out areas to provide temporary shelter and emergency services.

For better coordination, the county plans to use a streamlined channel of communication to enhance swift and timely response whenever disaster strikes.

We have what we are calling the one county-one plan-one commander strategy anchored on a dedicated emergency operations centre based at Lady Northey along State House road but additionally we are setting up a dedicated crisis communication centre here at City Hall," Bramwel said.

The county has also moved to polish operations in different institutions. An example is capacity in the Fire Station, in terms of the number of firemen and their resources.

The fire department, which is expected to play a crucial role in the mitigation process, has assured cooperation and readiness.

The county also plans to use a 12-6-2-0 approach in its response, an adoption Bramwel believes is the antidote to the anticipated heavy rains.

He however notes that despite the preparedness, Nairobians need to remain cooperative to make the county government's work easy and reduce the intensity of the disaster.

"Disaster management is not a one-entity affair. The behaviour by the society we live in has created the problem we have, building on drainage systems, people putting up walls to block the natural water pathways. We are looking at disaster management from a holistic perspective."