Flooding delays Nairobi-Mombasa train
Nairobi Station Master Absalom Kainga promised passengers that the train would not depart until all passengers who were booked to travel by the commuter train got there
Close to 130 passengers were stranded last night after a train using Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) delayed was delayed at the Nairobi Central Railway station after flooding interrupted train operations to the Syokimau station.
Those affected had boarded the commuter train only to be informed that it could not proceed due to floodwaters along the railway line.
According to the Nairobi Station Master Absalom Kainga, they arranged for buses to ferry passengers to the SGR station in Syokimau.
He promised passengers that the train would not depart until all passengers who were booked to travel by the commuter train got there.
As of 9.15 pm, the passengers anxiously waited to board the Kenya Railway buses, 45 minutes before the scheduled SGR departure time.
The flooding disruption comes even as climate experts project more intense rainfall across the country and the greater Horn of Africa Region.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Predictions and Applications Centre (ICPAC) has warned that heavy rainfalls will be expected in the eastern and North Eastern parts of the country, even as the larger parts of the Horn of Africa brace for heavy rainfalls.
The forecast by IGAD includes Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, South Sudan, and Ethiopia.
“Moderate rainfall of between 50-200 millimeters is expected in most parts of Rwanda, Burundi, northwestern and southern Tanzania, western Uganda, coastal, northeastern and western Kenya, parts of western Ethiopia, northern South Sudan and southern Sudan,” ICPAC stated in its forecast.
It cautioned that flooding may be experienced in some regions.
“The expected heavy rainfall over parts of north-eastern Kenya and some regions in southern and northern Tanzania could trigger isolated flooding. Communities in low-lying areas should stay cautious,” ICPAC said.
It has also projected high temperatures for several areas, with values above 32℃ in parts of Sudan and Ethiopia.
“Moderate to high temperatures of between 20-32 degrees Celsius are expected over most parts of Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, northern, western, and eastern Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania,” it noted, adding that pressure of heat stress is predicted to affect regions such as eastern Kenya, eastern Tanzania, and South Sudan.
