Nairobi County has stepped up preparations for the anticipated El Niño rains, bringing together county departments and national agencies to strengthen flood prevention, emergency response and evacuation plans.
The county says drainage works are already underway in several flood-prone areas, while emergency personnel are being trained ahead of the expected heavy rains from October. The preparations come after the Meteorological Department warned that above-normal rainfall could expose parts of Nairobi to flooding, disrupting transport, businesses and households.
Nairobi County’s El Niño plans have involved agencies including the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), the Kenya Red Cross, the National Disaster Operations Center (NDOC), Nairobi County disaster teams, and other government departments.
Nairobi Maps 16 Flood Hotspots
Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja said the county has identified 16 areas requiring urgent attention, particularly for drainage clearance and possible evacuation.
“We actually you know at advanced stages in terms of increasing the drains, construction of more outflow drains, expanding some of them and this work you can see going on across the county in several hotspots. We’ve identified 16 hotspots where main attention and priority has been you know maintained for clearance as well as for evacuation,”said Sakaja.
The priority locations include sections along Mombasa Road, Chiromo, Kangundo Road and Thika Road, where teams are clearing and expanding drainage channels to improve the movement of stormwater.
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Other work is underway along major road corridors and areas that have previously experienced flooding.
The county has also identified 227 flood hotspots across Nairobi’s 17 sub-counties,
The preparations are also linked to a KSh2.4 billion flood-resilience programme involving county and national agencies, with KSh2 billion allocated to drainage and flood-mitigation works targeting 19 flood-prone roads.
Sakaja said the county was acting ahead of the rains rather than waiting for flooding.
Emergency Teams and Rescue Centers Prepared
Nairobi County is also strengthening its emergency response capacity by training first responders who could be deployed during flooding incidents.
The training will bring together county fire officers, Community Health Promoters, sub-county administrators, Red Cross volunteers and other response personnel. The aim is to establish common procedures so different agencies can work together when residents need rescue, evacuation, or emergency assistance.
The county has also mapped potential rescue centres that can be used if residents in high-risk areas need to move to safer locations. An emergency operations centre is being established to coordinate distress calls, deployments and information during major incidents.
Authorities have announced 1199 and 1508 as emergency numbers residents can use to seek assistance. The county has also urged residents living near rivers, drainage channels and other vulnerable areas to follow official safety instructions.
Sakaja said the county was preparing for different levels of impact, including a worst-case scenario involving more than 100,000 households and people.
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County Warns Against Blocking Drainage Channels
As drainage works continue, Nairobi County has also placed responsibility on residents to help prevent flooding by keeping waterways clear.
The county has urged residents and businesses to stop dumping rubbish into drains, rivers and storm-water channels, warning that newly cleared drainage systems could quickly become blocked again. Residents’ associations are also expected to support clean-up activities within estates and neighborhoods.
Sakaja warned people who have erected kiosks, structures and other installations on drainage channels to remove them voluntarily. Such structures can obstruct water flow and make rescue operations more difficult during heavy rainfall.
“So we are ready, we’re preparing, this work is ongoing. We want to ask those who have built structures, especially you know kiosks etc on top of the drains to please remove them yourselves because we’re coming to clear them. Please remove them yourselves,” said Sakaja.
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