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Kenya floods, 2024
Why is it happening?
How have people been affected?
What has been done to help people?
How can we support the victims?
Why has so much rain fallen?
01
A combination of factors:
It’s usual to rain at this time of year
A natural cycle of warmer oceans
An intense storm
Rainy season
El Nino and IOD
Cyclone Hidaya
Global temperatures are rising
Climate change
The ‘long rains’
On average, April is the wettest month with rainfall totals of over 150 mm in Nairobi
In March, the sun is directly overhead at the equator, this warming leads to lots of evaporation and creates a low pressure (rising air) area called the ‘Intertropical Convergence Zone’ (ITCZ)
As it rises the air cools, condenses and creates thunderstorms a month later and normally continue through May.
El Nino and the Indian Ocean Dipole
Naturally, there are variations in the surface temperatures of the oceans.
In El Nino, the warming of the Pacific Ocean in the east, near Peru. It makes some parts of the world wetter and others suffer from drought as the change affects wind patterns.
The Indian Ocean Dipole is currently in a positive phase in the west (near the Kenyan coast). This means surface temperatures are higher leading to more evaporation and therefore more moisture in the atmosphere to fall as rain.
Climate change
There is no denying it, the climate is getting warmer. And it is human induced.
More people =
Which emits greenhouse gases that trap heat in our atmosphere.
The air is warmer so can hold more moisture, the sea is warmer so more water evaporates.
Cyclone Hidaya
Thankfully, the effects of Hidaya were less than was feared in Kenya.
The storm battered the Tanzanian coast and seems to have tracked inland rather than following the coastline north as some predicted.
Albeit, there was heavy rainfall and strong winds over the weekend in southern Kenya.
624mm
768mm
Was the second highest monthly total for April recorded at Kabete Met Station
Was the highest monthly total for April recorded near Mt Kenya
How have people been affected?
02
228
72
212,000
people have died
are still missing
displaced yt flooding
Lives have been changed for many people in all parts of the country
The range of impacts
Many have been closed, bridges washed away, lots of damage to the surface
These have been common on steep slopes
have remained closed, many have been damaged
Some people have lost everything
The main areas affected in Nairobi have been squatter settlements
The cost of losses, disruption to trade and rebuilding
Schools
Roads
Landslides
Property
Slums
Economics
Lodges shut and tourists evacuated
Many fields have been flooded; this may causes a food shortage soon
Tourism
Crops
What has been done to help people?
03
How have the government, NGOs and communities responded?
01
02
03
04
Many people have been involved in search and rescue operations to save people’s lives
Lots of public warnings have gone out in all media to help people take the necessary precautions to stay safe
People living near 178 dams and along rivers have been issued mandatory evacuation orders
Rescuing people
Education
Evacuations
To provide the basic needs of shelter, food, clean water, clothing, blankets
Emergency aid