When the skies opened over Nairobi last Friday night, the rain came with a force that few had anticipated. Roads turned into rivers, drainage systems overflowed, and entire neighbourhoods were submerged in murky brown water.
For many residents, it was an evening of fear and frantic attempts to reach safety. But for several families across the city, the rain brought death.
Across estates and informal settlements, the storm left behind a trail of death, missing persons and destruction. Some families are now grappling with sudden loss, while others continue searching for loved ones who vanished in the raging waters.
Among those who never made it home that night was Alex Kavila, a 39-year-old father of three and a skilled painter who worked around the bustling Grogan area of Nairobi. Like many others caught in the sudden downpour, Kavila rushed to seek shelter inside a nearby building.
Alex Kavila.
Photo credit: Pool
What he did not know was that danger was lurking beneath the floodwaters. As the water flowed along the street, a loose electric wire lay hidden beneath the muddy current. Witnesses say Kavila unknowingly stepped on it.
“He was the only one who got electrocuted. The rest were trying to find shelter like him,” witnesses later told his family.
At the Nairobi Funeral Home, his brother Jones Munyao waited for the post-mortem results, struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss.
“His family is based in Mombasa ... He worked so hard to provide for them. It is very sad that of all the people seeking shelter, he was the unfortunate one who got electrocuted,” he said.
In Kibra, Nicholas Kyalo, 35, a boda boda rider and a devoted member of the Bombolulu Boda Boda Association, lost his life in the overflowing Makina drainage channel.
Earlier that evening, Kyalo had been in high spirits. The rain had started easing, though a steady drizzle continued to fall. About 9.30pm, a customer approached him requesting to be taken home.
Nicholas Kyalo, 35, a bodaboda rider
Photo credit: Pool
The association’s chairperson, Samson Otieno, was the last person to see him ride away with the passenger.
“I took him under my wing in the boda boda industry. I raised him like a son and encouraged him to save some money, then add to it with a loan and get his bike,” Mr Otieno said.
Kyalo eventually managed to buy the motorcycle that had become his livelihood and had even finished paying for it.
After dropping off the passenger, Kyalo attempted to return to his boda boda stage using the Makina drainage bridge connecting the area to the Moi Girls' side. By then, the drainage channel had swollen, and the raging water had completely submerged the bridge.
“He tried to cross through the overflowing drainage,” Deborah Moraa, a resident of Bombolulu, said.
As Kyalo rode across, his motorbike skidded and fell into the rushing water.
“He tried to save his motorbike. People warned him to leave it and save himself ... He really cherished that bike. He tried pulling it back, but it pulled him over. The floods carried him away,” she said.
“Kyalo carried me on Thursday evening and Friday morning. We were friends because we lived in the same area. I did not know that Friday would be the last day to ride on his motorbike,” she said.
Elsewhere, in Lucky Summer, anxiety continues to haunt the family of Paul Juma, 26, who has been missing since the night of the floods. Juma was last seen on Friday evening while attending a funeral with friends in the area. When the rain subsided slightly later in the night, he decided to head back home, but never arrived.
Paul Juma.
Photo credit: Pool
“We have gone to all the police stations and checked several morgues since Friday, but our friend has not been found,” he said.
“There is a river in Lucky Summer that one has to cross before getting to his home. That night, the river was swollen and flooded the surrounding area,” Mr Ochieng said.
In Pangani, the family of Suleiman Abdullahi Enow is also mourning. Friends described Enow as a cheerful and energetic young man who was well-loved in his community.
Suleiman Enow who was found dead at a river in Pangani.
Photo credit: Pool
When the rainstorm struck Friday night, his friends tried calling him repeatedly but could not reach him. Concerned, they began searching for him. That search ended on Sunday morning when relatives who had travelled to Nairobi identified his body at the mortuary.
“We came here and identified his body, which was in a very bad state. It is very sad that a city as big as Nairobi cannot manage a single night’s rainfall, and now we are losing our loved ones,” Aweis Mohamed, his cousin, said.
For Jackline Awino, the nightmare has not yet ended. She has spent the last several days searching for her sister-in-law, Beatrice Tuju, who disappeared during the floods in the Grogan area.
Tuju, 33, is a well-known food vendor. On the night of the downpour, floodwaters rose so rapidly that traders scrambled onto rooftops and higher ground. Tuju was last seen standing on top of her kiosk as the floodwaters engulfed the area.
“I have been searching for my sister-in-law for three days now, but in vain. We know she may have died and that her body might have been swept away by the floods, but we want the government to help us retrieve her body wherever it went,” Ms Awino said outside the Nairobi Funeral Home.
Even as families continued searching for missing loved ones, more grim discoveries were being made.
Yesterday, police officers recovered a body in Industrial Area believed to be that of a security guard who had been on duty at one of the companies.
According to Ms Roselyne Kwendo, the man, identified as Hassan Ramadhan, had tried several times to save himself from the rising waters. She said they were together in the final moments, but she could do little to help him because she also had her son to protect.
“The guard went all out to save himself. He struggled for a while, but the waters overwhelmed him,” she said.
Ms Kwendo, a street vendor who sells food to workers in the area, said Hassan had earlier opened the gate for her before the compound was flooded.
“When the rains intensified, he went into one of the cars in the garage to relax as he waited for the situation to calm. But when the water level increased, he attempted to move into his house and, unfortunately, fell down and drowned,” she said.
“They were taken yesterday evening ... More deaths came from this area due to poor drainage and the illegal dumping site that is now home to street children,” a police officer at the scene said. The officer added that more bodies could still be trapped beneath the rubbish swept away by the waters.
Beyond the human tragedy, the floods also caused extensive damage to businesses in Industrial Area. Several companies said floodwaters entered their production facilities, destroying machinery and raw materials worth millions of shillings.
At Printwell Industries Ltd, Managing Director Sharmila D’Cunha said the company was counting heavy losses, with some textbooks that were due for delivery likely to be delayed for months.
“We do not know where to start from, and this is not the first time. The damage is more than Sh300 million because each machine is worth about Sh30 million or more,” she said.
Insurance companies, she added, have been reluctant to cover businesses in the area because it is considered a high-risk flood zone. More than 100 workers have been affected.
