Torrential rain has barreled Kenya for days causing, death, widespread devastation and destruction.
Officials say that at least 38 people have been killed and more than 40,000 have been forced from their homes because of the rain and flooding.
Edwin Sifuna, who oversees Nairobi County said “the situation in Nairobi has escalated to extreme levels. The County Government for all its efforts is overwhelmed. We need all national emergency services mobilized to save lives,” he lamented.
Hundreds of Nairobi residents were left stranded as the heavy rains pummeled the city all night. A top official said flooding had “escalated to extreme levels”.
Local media reported that the Mathare slum had been engulfed with water and its inhabitants were forced to sleep on rooftops overnight.
Major highways have been submerged, causing severe traffic jams across the country.
“The city is at a standstill because most roads are flooded,” Uber driver Kelvin Mwangi told journalists in Nairobi.
The Kenya Red Cross said a five-year-old boy who was marooned by the floods was eventually rescued by a police helicopter in Yatta, Southern Nairobi, on Tuesday.
“The child, visibly shaken by the ordeal after being stranded for quite a long period, was safely rescued and taken to a nearby hospital for care,” the Kenya Red Cross disclosed.
The rains have also wreaked destruction in several East African countries.
Almost 100,000 people have been displaced in Burundi, while at least 58 people have died in Tanzania.