Nairobians caught ‘unawares’ by heavy rains
By HILARY KIMUYU
Despite a warning by the Kenya Meteorological Department, many Nairobians were caught unwares by heavy rains that pounded the city on Friday night.
The downpour resulted into floods with major roads rendered impassable due to poor drainage. Heavy traffic was witnessed in many roads with cases of power outages also being reported in some parts of Nairobi.
There were also cases of road accidents being reported on some roads due to poor visibility.
Along the busy Thika Highway seven vehicles were involved in a pile up but there were no major casualties reported.
HEAVY TRAFFIC
Along Langata road near T-mall a Toyota Wish lost control and landed in a ditch resulting into heavy traffic along the busy road. Motorists along Pangani road were also stranded for several hours.
The Meteorological Department had earlier in the day issued a warning of expected heavy downpour in some parts of the country.
The department singled out Mount Kenya and South Rift Regions as well as Nairobi and Kiambu as some of the areas that are expected to receive rainfall of more than 30 millimeters in the next two days.
Residents of these areas had as a result been warned to be on the lookout for sudden downpours which may cause flash floods.
“They are advised to exercise caution especially if these rains persist for a long time in one place. Further advisories will be issued as we follow up on the progress of this weather event,” a statement from the department to newsrooms read.
