6 people missing, others spend night on rooftops as floods hit Mathare

The heavy rains that occurred on Tuesday night forced other residents out of their houses, where they had to seek refuge on the rooftops. 

George Aguko told Citizen Digital that the houses began flooding at 2.00 am as flood water from Nairobi river made its way into their homes. 

Aguko says that they tried reaching out to the Kenya Red Cross and the County Government, but they failed to get a response on the available help lines. 

“I reached out to the Kenya police in Ruaraka, they contacted me in the morning after we got exhausted from calling,” Aguko says. 

“All those rescue teams that we are advised to call in case of such an incident ignored our calls. People have started getting out of rooftops because the floods are subsiding. There are people who are trapped in the houses,” he added. 

The residents also report that power lines in the area were submerged in the water. 

At press time, teams from Kenya Red Cross and Nairobi County response had arrived in Mathare, leading the rescue operations. 

Starahe sub-county police commander Fred Abuga said the rescue team is already on the ground to comb the area.