Torrential rains and flash floods have ripped through parts of East Africa for several weeks, killing more than 350 people and displacing over 1 million across Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. <\/p>\n
In Kenya,\u00a0at least 136 have died\u00a0and nearly half a million have been displaced, according to the Interior Ministry. Persistent rains since October have affected 38 out of 47 counties across the country, which have been hit by flash floods, general flooding, and mudslides, President William Ruto revealed in an emergency cabinet meeting last week. <\/p>\n
The northeastern parts and the eastern coast of the country have been the worst-hit areas with severe damage to homes and infrastructure, including disruptions to cargo rail services from the port of Mombasa last month. <\/p>\n
The unusually heavy rains are largely caused by the El Ni\u00f1o weather phenomenon\u00a0and are forecast to continue into the new year by the Kenya Meteorological Department. <\/p>\n
El Ni\u00f1o is a climate pattern that originates in the Pacific Ocean along the equator and impacts weather all over the world. This phenomenon has been associated with severe flooding in eastern Africa, resulting in landslides, elevated waterborne diseases, and food shortages. Meanwhile, the northern and southern regions of the continent often endure prolonged periods of severe drought during El Ni\u00f1o events. <\/p>\n
But the Horn of Africa is also one of the world\u2019s most vulnerable regions to climate change. While the overall amount of rain annually is expected to fall in the region the more the Earth warms, the frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall events are projected to increase. That means the Horn of Africa may experience more drought as well as floods from heavy rain. <\/p>\n
President Ruto has activated the National Disaster Operation Center to carry out emergency response. On Thursday, the Interior Ministry\u00a0announced a decrease of rainfall\u00a0in northern Kenya is expected this week. <\/p>\n
Speaking at COP28 in Dubai on Friday, Ruto captured the immediate reality and devastation of climate change as witnessed by the catastrophic rains. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation in our Horn of Africa region, like many other developing countries, lays bare the harsh reality of climate change,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The extreme flooding comes just months after the region suffered its worst drought in four decades. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhether there\u2019s less water or too much water, either way, people suffer,\u201d Afi added. <\/p>\n
According to the United Nation\u2019s humanitarian agency (OCHA),\u00a0the\u00a0death\u00a0toll from\u00a0flooding has risen to\u00a0110 in Somalia\u00a0and\u00a057 in Ethiopia. <\/p>\n
In northern Tanzania, authorities said 49 people were killed by <\/strong>floods accompanied by mudslides following heavy rains in the country\u2019s Manyara province. <\/p>\n Up to 85 people were reported injured, Manyara governor Queen Sendiga said Monday, according to state media. <\/p>\n Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan directed response agencies \u201cto help rescue and prevent more disasters from happening.\u201d <\/p>\n In eastern Kenya, the deluge has\u00a0wreaked havoc on the Dadaab Refugee Camp, which is home to some 300,000 refugees. The camp has experienced a significant number of new arrivals over the last three years \u2014 some of them fleeing food insecurity and drought conditions in Somalia. <\/p>\n In November, in Hagadera, a camp inside the Dadaab complex, three out of the 15 blocks of homes were submerged, leaving around 20,000 people \u2014 about 13% of the camp \u2014 displaced and sheltering in schools and places of worship, according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC). <\/p>\n Aid agencies have reported\u00a0surges of water-borne diseases like cholera\u00a0and acute watery diarrhea due to damaged latrines and lack of access to safe drinking water. <\/p>\n Relief efforts to reach those in the hardest-hit areas of the camp with food, clean water and medical aid have been hindered by damaged and impassable roads, according to the IRC. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a poignant reminder of its disproportionate impact and a call to action for all of us to mobilize rapidly to address this imbalance with urgency, solidarity, and inclusivity.\u201d <\/p>\n\n Torrential rains and flash floods have ripped through parts of East Africa for several weeks, killing more than 350 people and displacing over 1 million across Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. In Kenya,\u00a0at least 136 have died\u00a0and nearly half a million have been displaced, according to the Interior Ministry. Persistent rains since October have affected <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":12475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Surge of water-borne diseases<\/h2>\n