Cause of deadly rainy season in East Africa

According to reports, at least 155 people died in Tanzania and 13 in Kenya due to record rainfall, causing floods and landslides.

East Africa is suffering from an extreme rainy season due to the impact of the El Nino climate phenomenon , causing deadly consequences.

Mathare slum, Nairobi, Kenya was destroyed by torrential rain on April 24. (Photo: AFP).

Tanzania announced on April 25 that 155 people had died in various disasters and floods in neighboring Kenya caused 13 deaths.

Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said: "Heavy rain in recent weeks has caused floods and landslides in many areas of the country. More than 51,000 homes and 200,000 people have been affected. The country has recorded 155 people died, 236 people were injured and more than 10,000 houses were damaged to varying degrees."

Meanwhile, neighboring Kenya, is urgently searching for the dead and missing - a day after flooding in several districts of the capital Nairobi and neighboring districts - caused road and rail shutdowns.

According to the United Nations Humanitarian Agency (OCHA), before this flood, at least 32 people were killed and more than 40,000 people were displaced from Kenya since the start of the rainy season in March.

"We need to warn the people" and emphasized the need to relocate residents from threatened areas, Kenyan President William Ruto said during a meeting to coordinate the response to these floods. .

Vice President Rigathi Gachagua also warned people about the forecast for next week, which shows that the country will have above-normal rainfall."

It rained non-stop for several months

On March 5, the World Meteorological Organization warned that a number of other countries in the region would be affected by unusually heavy rainfall due to a new El Nino period starting in mid-2023 and could last until May.

In addition to increasing temperatures, El Nino also causes drought in some parts of the world and heavy rain in others.

In Burundi, authorities last week reported that 96,000 people had been displaced from affected areas in the country, due to almost non-stop rain over the past few months. Or in Somalia, at least 4 people have died since April 19 when a flash flood occurred.

In fact, El Nino has devastated East Africa in the past.

Mathare slum residents dry mattresses on the roof after heavy rain in Nairobi, Kenya on April 24. (Photo: AFP).

In December last year, at least 89 people died in landslides and floods caused by heavy rains in northern Tanzania. In Somalia, more than 1 million people were displaced by floods.

Across the East African region, more than 300 people have died from these extreme weather events.

In particular, from October 1997 to January 1998, huge floods caused by torrential rains from the impact of El Nino killed more than 6,000 people in 5 countries in the region.