The death toll from flood-related incidents in Kenya has exceeded 200 since March, according to the interior ministry. This announcement comes as a cyclone approaches the Tanzanian coast.
East Africa has been hit hard by heavy rains, leading to flooding and landslides that have devastated crops, destroyed homes, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. The interior ministry reported that in Kenya, 210 people have died "due to severe weather conditions," with 22 deaths occurring in the past 24 hours.
Additionally, more than 165,000 individuals have been displaced from their homes, and 90 others are missing, raising concerns about a possible increase in the death toll.
Both Kenya and neighboring Tanzania, where flooding has claimed at least 155 lives, are preparing for cyclone Hidaya, which is expected to bring heavy rain, strong winds, and high waves to their coastlines. Tanzanian authorities warned that Hidaya had "strengthened to reach the status of a full-fledged cyclone" by 3:00 am local time when it was approximately 400 kilometers (248 miles) from the southeastern city of Mtwara.
They further stated in a weather bulletin, "Cyclone Hidaya has continued to strengthen further, with wind speeds increasing to about 130 kilometers per hour."
Kenya's interior ministry predicted that the cyclone would likely "bring strong winds and large ocean waves, with heavy rainfall" expected to hit the coast starting Sunday. The unusually heavy rains have also resulted in at least 29 fatalities in Burundi, along with 175 injuries and tens of thousands of displacements since September last year, according to the United Nations.
These rains have been worsened by the El Niño weather pattern, a naturally occurring climate phenomenon typically associated with increased global heat, leading to droughts in some regions and heavy rainfall in others.
Late last year, over 300 people died in rains and floods in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia, as the region was still recovering from its worst drought in four decades.
The cyclone season in the southwest Indian Ocean typically lasts from November to April and sees around a dozen storms each year.