Floods kill close to 200 people in Kenya

Floods and landslides caused by heavy rain over the last month have killed close to 200 people across much of Kenya.

According to a statement released by the president’s office, a further 100,000 people have been displaced from their homes.

The statement said that thousands of hectares of crops had been washed away.

Heavy rain is expected to continue for another two weeks, leading to fears it could cause two hydroelectric dams to burst their banks.

Kenya’s Interior Minister, Fred Matiang’i, has ordered security teams to start evacuating people living in high-risk flood-prone regions of the country, including those living downstream from the dams.

At a press conference this morning he told journalists the evacuations would be done in the north-eastern, eastern and coastal regions.

The Kenyan government has admitted the floods will further complicate the country’s efforts to eradicate the coronavirus, which has already claimed 26 lives.

[Photo: Reuters]