Between 20,000 and 100,000 residents living in Nairobi's low-income settlements face imminent displacement as heavy rains threaten to collapse fragile iron-sheet homes. Decades of infrastructural underinvestment have left drainage systems built for 2.5 million people overwhelmed by a metropolitan daytime population of 7 million. In response, national authorities have initiated emergency clean-up efforts under the Climate Worx programme to clear clogged riverbeds and drains. Should these preventive efforts fail, officials have arranged 167 emergency holding sites to shelter displaced families.
Key points
Informal settlements face immense structural danger because outdated drainage networks ca…: Informal settlements face immense structural danger because outdated drainage networks cannot support the city's current population.
Emergency clean-up initiatives like the Climate Worx programme are actively unblocking lo…: Emergency clean-up initiatives like the Climate Worx programme are actively unblocking long-neglected urban riverbeds and drains.
Disaster management authorities have designated 167 emergency holding grounds to supply a…: Disaster management authorities have designated 167 emergency holding grounds to supply and house evacuated residents.
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- Published
"It flooded up to here in March," Agnes Shikoli says, pointing to a spot halfway up the six-foot [1.8m] corrugated iron wall of her home in Kibera, one of the largest informal settlements in Kenya.
Her tiny house lies just a couple of metres from the Ngong river, which runs through this densely populated area in the capital, Nairobi.
The scars of floods in the long rainy season earlier this year can still be seen - including a broken TV in the corner which was immersed in water.
Tucked out of sight is a photo of her sister Beatrice Khalayi, 58, who died when intense rains caused widespread destruction in Kibera. She was among more than 60 people across the country who lost their lives.
"Someone called me to tell me that she had died of electrocution after her house flooded," Shikoli recalls. "When I see a picture of her, I feel uneasy, that's why I keep it far from me, so I don't see it."
With Kenya's short rainy season now starting, Shikoli tells the BBC she…
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