Nakuru Dam Burst: Channel Blocked by Rain-Swept Debris as the Likely Cause
According to the Kenyan government, a blockage in a subway or tunnel that channels water to the Tongi river caused the dam in Nakuru County to burst on April 29, 2024.
The ongoing heavy rainfall in Kenya has deposited debris, stones, and soil. According to a statement from Kenya’s Ministry of Water, this resulted in the tunnel becoming blocked and eventually burst.
Nakuru County Governor Susan Kihika stated that 45 bodies were discovered buried in the mud, with the majority of them being children, women, and elderly men.
The tragedy brought the death toll from Kenya’s March-May long rainy season to more than 160, as El Nino-induced above-average rains pounded East Africa.
The dam tragedy in Kamuchiri, near Mai Mahiu, is not the first in Kenya. In 2018, 48 people were killed in a similar incident at the Solai dam in Nakuru County, Rift Valley, during heavy rains. A makeshift private dam burst its banks, sending water gushing downhill across homesteads.
“The full impact of the dam’s bursting and the resultant destruction is yet to be established. Tens of residents are still missing according to their kin. So far, a fully coordinated search and rescue operation involving the county, national government, and Kenya Red Cross is ongoing to help ascertain the full impact of the disaster,” said Kihika on April 30.
Dark night.
According to locals, the dam ruptured late at night, unleashing a torrent of water that swept down the hillside, engulfing everything in its path. Floodwaters severed a link road in the area and swept through farmlands, destroying crops and demolishing homes.
“It happened around 3 am when we were all asleep. We just heard a roar of water gushing with fury. Most people were helpless and got swept downhill and possibly died of drowning or trauma. Some people are still missing,” said Simon Gikandi, a resident of Mai Mahiu.
More than 100 survivors of the disaster are receiving medical attention at various healthcare facilities throughout Nakuru County. Counsellors from the government and churches have been deployed to provide them with psychosocial support.
As of April 27, all Seven Forks dams—Masinga, Kaburu, Gitaru, Kindaruma, and Kiambere—were at full capacity, raising concerns about a massive downstream overflow within the next 24 hours.
As of April 28, the National Disaster Operations Centre reported that heavy rains and flash floods had killed more than 168 people, injured 50, left 21 people missing, displaced 150,000 people (30,000 families), and affected over 190,000 people across Kenya. Until April 24, over 4,824 livestock had been lost, 27,717 acres of cropland had been damaged, and 264 small businesses had been affected. School reopening across Kenya has been postponed from April 29 to May 6
The heavy rains and flash floods are also wreaking havoc in neighboring countries like Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Somalia.
Nakuru Dam Burst: Channel Blocked by Rain-Swept Debris as the Likely Cause
