Nairobi residents in areas affected by floods to be evacuated, Sakaja assures

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has issued a directive that the city residents residing in areas that have been affected by floods will be issued with an evacuation notice and moved to higher grounds.

In a press conference on Wednesday, the Governor along with the Kenya Red Cross and other stakeholders pledged to provide food supplies, mattresses, blankets, sanitary kits, emergency drugs, water purification tablets, and education support to victims in the interim.

“We have mapped out areas where people need to be evacuated and we will be evacuating those people. We had asked people to move and many were not able to move. Some encroached on riparian,” he said.

“There are buildings whose walls are right on the river and we will begin clearing those now. Because it's no longer a negotiation, those need to have been opened up.”

Sakaja mentioned the reinstallation of bridges that were swept away by floods, insisting that this will be done in affected areas before schools reopen for the second term.

“One of the areas of intervention is the need for urgent installation of bridges. We have several bridges that have been swept away,” the Governor stated.

He also urged the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) to ensure their engineers are available to repair roads damaged by the ravaging rains in the city.

“Many roads have also been affected including disruption of human movement and traffic such as Mbagathi Way, Jogoo Road, Enterprise Road, Lang’ata South Road, Eastern Bypass, and many others across the city,” he said.

“We understand that in as much as not all roads fall under the jurisdiction of the county, the people know the county so we are working closely with KeNHA and KURA and also KeRRA to make sure that their engineers are on the ground.”

The Nairobi Governor mentioned that an estimated 60,000 people, mostly women and children, have been severely affected following the devastating floods which have hit the city, and urged residents to cooperate with authorities.

“We are on the brink of a humanitarian crisis in the city. We have a large-scale coordinated response, together with our partners, the Red Cross. We urge the people of Nairobi to cooperate with authorities,” he added.

This comes after news of Nairobi residents being displaced and swept away by floods has been circulating since the onset of the rains.

In the aftermath of Tuesday night's heavy downpour that felled two of the oldest trees in the CBD located at the Kenyatta Avenue and Moi Avenue intersection outside the Nairobi Sports House and Imenti House, transport operations were paralyzed on Wednesday morning as people sought alternative routes.

Starehe Sub-county Police Commander Fred Abuga has since said that 12 bodies were recovered from Mathare River and search is ongoing for eight others following heavy rains witnessed on Tuesday evening.