Fatshimetrie — Devastation at the Maasai Mara Nature Reserve: Images show the devastation of catastrophic flooding.
Kenya’s Maasai Mara Nature Reserve has been hit hard by devastating floods, leaving staff and visitors trapped and several buildings submerged. The death toll in the southwest of the country has reached at least 188 people.
Local authorities ordered the closure of some tourist facilities in the national reserve after the Talek River, one of the tributaries of the Mara River, overflowed and swept away a dozen riverside tourist lodges and camps.
Videos on social media showed buildings and vehicles completely submerged inside the popular park, as tourists struggled to leave the affected areas.
Weeks of torrential rains and flash floods have ravaged parts of Kenya, leaving dozens of people missing around the capital, Nairobi, and causing a devastating landslide in the town of Mai Mahiu.
Two more bodies were found at the landslide site, bringing the total number of deaths to 50, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said. In Maasai Mara, camp owners were asked to leave affected properties and “move to higher ground, further from the Talek River”, Narok County Governor Patrick Ole Ntutu said.
Despite warnings from authorities, some individuals remained behind, prompting local administrators to threaten legal action, going so far as to accuse these people of attempted suicide.
Authorities deployed two helicopters to rescue tourists and local staff trapped around the national reserve after receiving distress calls. The floods were caused by rising river water levels following several days of continuous rain.
A tour guide said he was awakened by the sound of rushing water in the night. When he emerged from his tent, flood waters rose to his waist and the entire Talek Bush Camp was surrounded.
The Kenyan Red Cross said it had rescued more than 90 people and at least 14 camps around the Talek River had to be closed.
While parts of the Maasai Mara reserve had already been flooded during the rainy season, residents highlighted the unprecedented scale of this year’s bad weather.
Kenya has mobilized forces from its National Youth Service Paramilitary Academy in Narok to “join the multi-agency team for search and rescue operations following heavy rains”, a statement said.
The Horn of Africa, a region of East Africa that includes Kenya, is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change. “Kenya faces a worsening flood crisis due to the combined effects of El Niño and the rains of March-April-May 2024,” said the CEO of the International Federation of Red Cross Societies and of the Red Crescent (IFRC), Jagan Chapagain.
This disaster highlights the government’s obligation to prepare for and respond quickly to the predictable impacts of climate change and natural disasters, said Nyagoah Tut Pur, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. It is crucial that Kenyan authorities provide urgent support to affected communities and protect high-risk populations.