• The meteorological department says heavy downpour to continue until end of December
Image: REUTERS
Disaster management officers have been deployed in all the 17 subcounties of Nairobi amid heavy downpour that has caused flooding in several estates.
The move follows a warning from the weatherman that the capital city is among regions that will experience heavy rains in the coming days.
Nairobi has experienced heavy rains for the last three days.
The meteorological department says the downpour will continue throughout December.
From Friday, the county’s disaster management unit has been visiting areas affected by floods, to help unclog drainages and create outlets for flash floods.
Governor Mike Sonko has called on residents to be vigilant and use the hotline numbers issued by the county when in need of help.
He said the county government had invested enough resources in disaster preparedness. He said the monthly cleanup exercise, which was launched on July 7 last year, has contributed to mitigation.
“We have been unclogging drainage systems and setting up new ones in areas where we are rehabilitating roads," Sonko said.
He said City Hall will do everything to ensure residents do not experience flash floods. The hotline numbers are: 0202344599, 0727447777, 0722886600, 0722156700, 0722732330 and 0722832930.
On Saturday night, Sonko led the disaster management team to Aga Khan University Hospital where services were disrupted by rainwater spillage.
The hospital's maintenance team together with the county’s disaster management team drained the water before services resumed.
“We wish to thank Governor Sonko and his team, our staff and the entire hospital leadership that moved in swiftly to ensure there were no casualties and that all services were restored in the shortest time possible,” a statement from the hospital read.
The governor later toured Pumwani, South C, Eastleigh, among other areas in the central business district to inspect the roads and drainages.
Sonko said a few county hospitals were affected by spillage of rain waters but that the situation had been contained.
He asked residents to stop dumping waste in drainage systems.
“Most of the drainage systems are unclogged on a daily basis because some of us have decided not to be disciplined enough in waste disposal. We are throwing it anywhere and everywhere,” Sonko said.
The County Disaster Management and Co-ordination team led by its chief officer Anne Mwenda.
They visited parts of Embakasi where they flushed and unclogged the entire Transami Road which connects to the Catherine Ndereba Road in Kware ward.
The area had experienced flooding after Saturday's downpour.
edited by p. obuya