At least 39 people have been killed by floods following heavy rains in Nairobi alone.
Two of them died on Friday, officials at the Nairobi City County said.
The estimated number of displaced households stands at 20,968, with 147,061 people affected and requiring humanitarian support.
The assessment also notes that three villages in Kamukunji have reported diarrhea cases.
The Nairobi City County Government has since stepped up the surveillance and response initiatives from its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and the multi sectoral County Emergency Response Committee earlier established to coordinate interventions to the persistent heavy rains.
The EOC and the County Emergency Response Committee Chaired by the Chief Officer Disaster Management Bramwell Simiyu is providing rapid response interventions to various parts of the city under the oversight of an Emergency Response Taskforce established by Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson in 2023.
The committee has developed and implemented contingency, surveillance and rapid response measures including humanitarian relief supplies distribution, public health and displaced persons camps’ management.
The County Emergency Response Committee is also providing progressive updates to Sakaja and the County Executive under a command centre model to ensure swift situation management.
Speaking when she confirmed the stepping up of efforts by the committee and EOC operations to ease communication with city residents, NCCG Chief Officer—Public Participation, Citizen Engagement and Customer Service Lydia Mathia said the operations centre has been receiving real-time reporting of emergencies and also providing situation reports to the County Emergency Response Committee to help streamline resource mobilization and channel appropriate interventions.
As part of the EOC activation, the County Government, Mathia added, has been utilizing the activated toll-free emergency response contact line (1508).
Under the humanitarian response component, the Committee has already overseen the distribution of more than 4,000 bags of sugar, rice, wheat and maize in Kibra, Sarango’ombe, Mukuru Kwa Rueben, Mathare North, Kiambiu, Viwandani, Soweto, Pipeline, Kware, Kabiro, Gatina and Soweto wards.
Other relief items including mattresses, blankets and cooking oil have also been distributed.
“Nairobi County is experiencing higher-than-expected long rains. This has led to flooding in most parts of the County, resulting in loss of lives, displacement of people, destruction of property, disruption of infrastructure, and increased risk of water-borne and vector-borne diseases. Mathare sub-county is the most affected, with 6,935 persons displaced,” Mathia said.
“The County Government, under Governor Sakaja Johnson’s leadership, is prioritizing emergency response and humanitarian response interventions with all hands-on deck to alleviate the plight of city residents hard hit by the heavy rains.”
The County Emergency Response Committee is also providing enhanced surveillance for water and vector-borne diseases and has stepped up risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) across the sub counties.
Among other interventions, the county government is conducting search and rescue operations based on reports logged at the EOC. It has set up 18 camps in Mathare, Starehe, Ruaraka, and Roysambu sub-counties.
Public and clinical health staff teams have also been deployed to all four camps, and food and non-food items are currently being distributed.
Nairobi City County Government teams are also overseeing the relocation of displaced and at-risk persons to suitable camps and safe grounds, distributing water purification tablets and coordinating potable water supplies with the Nairobi Water and Sanitation Company.
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