Nairobians Stuck in Floods as Heavy Rain Pound the City Thursday Morning

Nairobians were on Thursday morning stuck in floods owing to heavy rains that pound the city.

The rains, which began at around 6 in the morning saw both pedestrians and motorists stuck as roads were flooded and footbridges jammed.

Although umbrellas could be spotted everywhere, many were still stuck in their homes for fear of braving the rains to go to work. Outside the CBD, places like Eastleigh, Ngara, South C, South B and Enterprise and Lusaka roads and many more resembled rivers with some joking that we should rename all Nairobi streets as River Road.

Adversely affected are major road highways such as Mombasa Road, Uhuru Highway, Jogoo road and Limuru Road.

Earlier on, the governor claimed that City Hall was prepared for the floods. Clearly, that is not the case as the flooding has emphasized once again, that the city’s drainage system is nothing but poor.

Surprisingly, most parts of the city still use a drainage and sewer systems constructed during the colonial period in the 1950s and early 1960s. This is regardless of the city’s population expanding to more than 4 million in the last six decades.

Passenger service vehicles have been forced to navigate streets to pick stranded pedestrians. This, however, comes at a cost as the fare has hiked twice the usual amount. Places, where people paid 50 shillings, is now nothing less than 100 shillings.

The “mkokoteni” pullers have, nonetheless, made a kill as they help people cross the flooded streets.

The social media is filled with pictures of various places in the city, which are almost submerged by waters

The heavy rains experienced in most parts of the country are predicted to continue, according to the Kenya Meteorological Department.

On Friday, the department issued an alert that there would likely be heavy rains with devastating effects across the country beginning March 12.

Regions like Nairobi, Mt Kenya Kisii, Kericho, Bomet, Narok, Migori, Kakamega, Kajiado, Nakuru and Kwale were the few mentioned.

Western, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Northern, Southeastern, Coast, and Central are already experiencing heavy rains.