Woman mourns lost Mai Mahiu properties after toiling in Saudi Arabia
By Winnie MabelA Kenyan woman by the name Vero Gaps Waithera took to TikTok to mourn her lost assets following heavy rainfall in Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County. She had acquired her assets following work she did in Saudi Arabia.
In the TikTok video posted a day ago, Ms Waithera could not hold back her tears as she constantly repeated that everything was gone and she did not know where she was going to restart.
In the videos, she included her house that had been under construction but after the rainfall and flash floods, there was no structure standing.
“God, I don’t know where to start from. But all my savings, my house I was building in Mai Mahiu- all are gone. All is gone. I don’t know where to start from my God. And the way I had sacrificed so much working in this country. God, why me? Why me Lord? I don’t know…zote zimeenda, hakuna kitu imebaki hata moja (everything is gone, nothing, not even one thing was left behind). Everything was carried away. Everything was carried away by the rains,” cried Ms Waithera in her TikTok video posted on April 29, 2024.
Heavy rainfall saw to the accumulation of water in a gulley located in Kiambu which broke its banks, flowed down to Naivasha Sub-County and resulted in raging waters that swept away people and property in Mai Mahiu.
So far, 45 people have been confirmed dead, rescue operations are still ongoing and flood victims are being provided with aid. Tens more of families were displaced.
Water Resources Management Authority Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Shurie clarified that the raging waters were not from a dam as had earlier been reported but a blocked gulley that had been near a railway line and ended up forming a water catchment over time.
“A combination of flash floods and a landslide swept off people, houses and cars in two villages in Kamuchiri area near Kijabe within Nakuru County, occasioning the deaths of scores of people. While 45 bodies have already been retrieved along the path of the flash floods and the landslide, search, rescue and recovery is ongoing and support for the survivors has been mobilized. Over 110 people have been rescued so far and are recuperating in various hospitals within Nakuru County, said Mr Kithure Kindiki, the Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, in an April 30, 2024, statement- almost a day after the Nakuru tragedy.
Several parts of Kenya continue enduring flooding as heavy rainfall pounds the country. So far, severe flooding has been reported in Nairobi, Homa Bay, Tana River and Garissa Counties. Over 170 people were reported dead and tens of thousands more were displaced.
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