Mvua kubwa ilionyesha mji mkuu wa Kenya, Nairobi, usiku wa Ijumaa, ilisababisha barabara kuu kugeuka mito na maelfu ya nyumba pamoja na biashara kujaa maji, lakini pia ilichukua maisha ya watu huku baadhi wakijeruhiwa.
Siku ya Jumamosi Polisi walisema walau watu 23 walifariki Dunia jijini Nairobi, huku shughuli za utafutaji na uokoaji zikiwa bado zinaendelea wakati huohuo huku uharibifu mkubwa ukiripotiwa katika maeneo mbalimbali katika jiji hilo.
Msemaji wa polisi Michael Muchiri aliliambia shirika la habari AFP Jumatatu kwamba idadi ya vifo sasa imefikia watu 45 kutokana na kuzama majini, na watu 2,224 wamepoteza makazi yao, lakini hakutoa maelezo zaidi. Uharibifu ulionekana katika barabara na miundombinu mengine kuanzia katika makazi duni makubwa ya Nairobi hadi kwenye maeneo ya kifahari.
“Kingo za mito zilivunjika huku mvua zikiendelea kunyesha, magari yakachukuliwa na maji na maji yakamiminika ndani ya maduka yetu na kuharibu mali za watu wengi,” alisema Frederick Wasonga, ambaye huuza vifaa vya magari katikati ya jiji.
Wakazi walionyesha hasira zao kwa gavana wa Nairobi Johnson Sakaja, ambaye alikuwa ameahidi kushughulikia matatizo ya mifereji ya maji na miundombinu ya barabara aliposhika madaraka mwaka 2022.
Tafiti nyingi zimeonyesha kuongezeka kwa matukio ya vipindi vya mvua nyingi sana na ukame katika Afrika Mashariki katika kipindi cha miaka 20 iliyopita. Wanasayansi kwa muda mrefu wameonya kwamba mabadiliko ya tabianchi yanayosababishwa na shughuli za binadamu yanaongeza uwezekano, muda na ukali wa matukio ya hali mbaya ya hewa kama mvua kubwa kupita kiasi.
Pia soma: Jinsi Mvua kubwa ilivyoonyesha udhaifu wa miundombinu Nairobi, Kenya. 23 waripotiwa kufariki
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Torrential rains lashed the Kenyan capital Nairobi late Friday, turning major streets into rivers and flooding thousands of homes and businesses.
Police said Saturday that at least 23 people had died in Nairobi but search and rescue operations were continuing amid widespread devastation.
Police spokesman Michael Muchiri told AFP on Monday that the toll was now 45 people drowned and 2,224 displaced but gave no further details.
AFP reporters saw on Saturday heavily damaged roads and infrastructure from Nairobi's vast slums to upmarket areas.
"The river banks broke as the rains continued and cars were swept off and water flowed into our shops destroying property for many people," Frederick Wasonga, who sells car accessories in the city centre, said.
Residents voiced anger at Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja, who had vowed to deal with drainage and road infrastructure when he took office in 2022.
Multiple studies have tracked the increasing frequency of extreme wet and dry periods in east Africa in the last 20 years. Scientists have long warned that human-driven climate change is increasing the likelihood, length and severity of extreme weather events such as torrential downpours.