- Since the heavy rains started, Kiambu county has seen five dams marked risky as water levels rise.
- These are Lari swamp, Ruruti dam in Limuru, Brookside/Gicheha dam in Ruiru and Kiahuria and Selecta public dams in Juja.
Image: KNA
Kiambu residents have been asked to vacate areas within the 30-metre riparian corridor of water courses for their own safety.
County commissioner Daniel Darusi, who also chairs the Kiambu county disaster management team, said the aim is to mitigate evacuation and rescue efforts amid the growing crisis of flooding and landslides.
“We have been trying our best trying to minimise the effects despite a few fatalities," he said.
Households from three residential buildings within Kiambu have been evacuated following the ongoing heavy rains.
The administrator said the three buildings in Kia-Mumbi, Juja and Ruaka posed a risk to residents.
In Ruaka, one person died and another injured after a perimeter wall collapsed on an adjacent iron sheet structure.
In Kia Mumbi more than 20 tenants were asked to vacate building that had started to have cracks, showing signs of sinking while in Juja, residents living in waterlogged areas were advised to move to higher ground.
“We have identified rescue centres in some schools and a few churches, where those who have been evacuated are being sheltered,” Darusi said.
Most of the flooding being experienced in residential areas is due to human activities such as clogging of drainages, buildings in riparian areas and also inappropriate buildings.
Darusi confirmed that inspection and assessment by a multi-agency team comprising county and national government officials is ongoing.
“Most of the fatalities we have had in Kiambu is attributed to the collapse of structures and not flooding,” he said.
He added that they have mobilised a team so that a recurrence does not occur, especially in the areas around Kijabe Mission Hospital and Rift Valley Academy school.
The administrator thanked the national government and military for the search and rescue mission in Kijabe, even as he called for a long-term solution.
“I still want to implore and urge residents of Kiambu to take precaution, listen to authorities and cooperate, let us not dare nature,” Darusi said.
Since the heavy rains started, Kiambu county has seen five dams marked risky as water levels rise.
These are Lari swamp, Ruruti dam in Limuru, Brookside/Gicheha dam in Ruiru and Kiahuria and Selecta public dams in Juja.