This archive report was first published on 16 May 2020.
East Africa is reeling from the devastating effects of flooding and landslides, with over 481,000 people displaced and more than 360 lives lost.
The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned of further rainfall this month, exacerbating the crisis.
Lake Victoria, shared by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, has reached its highest water levels in over 50 years, with a record 13.45 meters, causing widespread flooding in many areas.
According to Lake Victoria Basin Commission executive secretary Ali-Said Matano, 'With the ongoing rains expected to continue, the water levels may rise further, aggravating the challenges of flooding especially on the Kenyan side that has more rivers that drain into Lake Victoria.'
Uganda's Minister of Water and Environment Sam Cheptoris attributed the backflow and increased flooding to the emergence of several floating islands blocking River Nile, the only outflow of Lake Victoria.
Ugandan police reported that sweeping floods in western Uganda killed four people and displaced 5,000, while Isingiro County South member of parliament Alex Byarugaba Bakunda called for emergency government support, stating that 5,000 people have been displaced.
Kenya has seen hundreds killed by floods and about 161,000 displaced, with Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa stating, 'More than 237 Kenyans have lost their lives to floods. The rains are still pounding many parts of the country and our dams are filled up.'
Other affected countries include Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Somalia, with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Climate Prediction and Applications Centre predicting heavy rainfall in western and northwestern Kenya and along the Ethiopian rift.
