Four out of 10 disaster-related deaths in Kenya are due to flooding with more than 230 dead this year and almost a million others affected. Flooding is so critical that President Kenyatta announced a Sh1 billion fund in the government’s Covid-19 economic stimulus package for the mitigation of its effects.
University of Nairobi research shows 38 per cent of deaths due to hazards in Kenya are flood-related. About 30 people die every day, says Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, adding to the 237 who perished in the recent floods which also affected over 800,000 people in Kenya and three million across East Africa.
The European Academies’ Science Advisory Council on extreme weather events says global weather-related catastrophes doubled from 335 per year in 1980-1989 to 716 in 2002-2011. Such disasters increased by half in the past decade. A 2019 study by Goldman Sachs on making cities climate change-resilient projected that “half of the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas as soon as 2025”. And according to a 2019 World Bank report, over the past three decades, flooding was the most frequent, financially damaging and deadliest natural disaster in Kenya. In March-May 2018, flooding displaced 300,000 people and killed 170.
The recent floods have destroyed 8,000 acres of farmland, yet agriculture supports up to 75 per cent of the population. They also caused structural damage to buildings, loss of homes and livelihoods, disruption of key transport and communication networks and often-fatal landslides. Water-borne diseases are more likely to spread due to stagnant water and contaminated groundwater.
The frequency of floods has increased due to factors such as population pressure, deteriorating infrastructure, large-scale deforestation and cultivation practices. Even then, there are no specific laws on floods as a hazard in the country.
The National Environment Management Authority guidelines on regulation, monitoring control of flood plains with proposals on the enactment of the Built Environment Bill and updating of the 1968 Kenyan Building Code, are yet to be enforced.
Local authorities can designate parks, wetland areas, lake and river basin reserves to contain and control excess water. The effects of excessive use of concrete in urban centres can be counteracted with soft landscaping such as green spaces and porous paving.
Counties should expand storm water and sewage systems to accommodate run-off and ensure key infrastructure and built structures in flood-prone areas are elevated above flood heights. They must ensure that new structures use water-resistant materials such as stone, concrete and brick instead of untreated timber or exposed mud, which are likely to warp or disintegrate when wet.
Finally — and this can be done by all Kenyans — we must plant more trees and plants in open areas in our compounds, parks and communities for the roots to hold the soil to reduce landslides and soil erosion.
As we plan for a ‘new normal’, let us also rethink resilience not just in terms of health and sanitation, but also from natural disasters such as flooding through the design of more resilient structures and cities.
Ms Madete, architectural designer at Buildx Studio and lecturer at the University of Nairobi, is an Aspen 2020 fellow. @ettamadete
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