Heavy rains accompanied by strong winds swept through Kisumu City on Thursday, damaging buildings, blowing off rooftops and bringing down a billboard that landed on vehicles.
The intense downpour, which lasted less than 30 minutes, caused widespread disruption across parts of the city.
Along Jomo Kenyatta Highway, a billboard was blown down by strong winds and landed on vehicles that had been parked nearby, causing damage.
At Jumbo Steel Mills hardware shop along Obote Road, the roof and part of a wall were damaged after the strong winds swept through the area. Police had earlier reported that no casualties were recorded in the incident, although property of unknown value was destroyed.
Kisumu County Commissioner Ramadhan Mwabudzo said the incidents had raised concerns over the structural safety of old buildings, billboards and other structures in the city as the rainy season intensifies.
Mwabudzo urged landlords and tenants to inspect buildings and take precautionary measures to protect occupants, customers and members of the public.
“We have asked landlords and tenants to check their buildings before the rains. We have to be cautious about our environment because there are so many people who rely on these businesses,” he said.
The commissioner said authorities did not want poorly maintained or structurally weak buildings to cause injuries.
“We do not want incidents that will cause injury either to tenants or clients,” he said.
He said Thursday’s incident had prompted the county administration and the city planning department to conduct fresh inspections of buildings and billboards to establish whether they could withstand extreme weather.
“Today’s experience has sent a new alert to both the city planning team and my team. We have to go round again and check the strength of most buildings and billboards erected along the streets,” Mwabudzo said.
Authorities will also assess drainage systems across the city, despite ongoing works aimed at improving drainage and controlling flooding.
The heavy rainfall and strong winds came as the region continues to experience wet weather, raising concerns about the safety of structures and infrastructure during intense storms.
For instance the rainfall caused the roof and sections of the walls of two hardware shops to collapse along Obote Road in Kisumu on Wednesday afternoon.
The incident occurred at Jumbo Steel Mills Ltd hardware shop, according to the company’s operations manager.
Police said the shops were affected after a heavy downpour, resulting in the collapse of the roof and parts of the walls.
Property of unknown value was destroyed in the incident.
No casualties were reported.
Police officers from Kisumu Central Police Station visited the scene, which was subsequently processed by the Kisumu Central Crime Scene Investigation team.
Investigations and assessment of the damage are ongoing.
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