2018 East Africa floods

Last updated
2018
DateMarch–June 2018
Location Rwanda, Kenya, Somalia, Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Uganda
Deaths~500

The 2018 East Africa Floods were a natural disaster in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Somalia, Djibouti, and Burundi affecting millions of people. They began when excessive rains began falling in March 2018 following a year of severe drought, leading to massive flooding, landslides, and the failure and overflow of several dams. [1] [2] Record rainfall was recorded in several areas, surpassing various records set during the 1950s and during the 1997–98 El Niño event. [3] Nearly 500 people have lost their lives while hundreds of thousands of others have been displaced. [4]

Contents

Impact by country

Rwanda

Flooding in Rwanda's hill country has caused major landslides that have killed at least 200 people. [1] Over 10,000 houses have been destroyed. [5]

In May the Kigali-Gatuna highway, a major road connecting Rwanda to its neighbors, was washed out for nearly a week, cutting off vital trade for the landlocked country. Damages to the roads alone across Rwanda have so far totaled $28 Million. [6]

Kenya

The year 2018 Long rainy season (March-May) was considered one of the wettest periods that led to massive economic and social losses at least according to post event analysis. During this period at least 186 people in Kenya were killed by the floods [7] due to mudslides, building collapses, drowning, and capsizing. An additional 283,290 people were displaced. [8] The floods were a contributing factor to the Patel Dam failure on 9 May, 2018 in Solai, Kenya, which led to 48 of the fatalities in Kenya. [2] Four additional dams near Lake Baringo burst on May 26, killing another 5 people and displacing another 10,000. [4] [9]

Repairs to road damages in Kenya are currently estimated to cost $187 Million. [6]

Somalia

Initial bouts of flooding throughout April and early May killed 5 people, displaced 215,000 people, and affected over 630,000 people in Somalia. Most flooding has occurred along the Jubba and Shabelle rivers, an example of the Somali Flash Flood effect. [5] [10]

More floods were experienced between May 17 and 21 as Somalia was hit by Cyclone Sagar, the westernmost landfalling cyclone on record in the North Indian Ocean. 31 people were killed, most of them in Somaliland where 80% of the livestock were also killed. [10] [11]

Burundi

In March, floods in Bujumbura triggered landslides that killed 6 people and affected 12,000 others. Continued flooding throughout April caused a dyke along the Mutumbizi River to fail and ultimately left 1 person dead and 2,573 people homeless. Heavy rainfall throughout May around Gatumba led to massive flooding that affected an additional 12,956 people. [12]

Djibouti

Djibouti experienced its worst flooding when hit by Cyclone Sagar, which made landfall on May 19. 20,000 people have been affected and 2 have died. [11]

Ethiopia

In Ethiopia 98,000 individuals have been displaced, including 26,000 in Dolo Odo alone. Over 165,000 people have been affected across the country. [13]

Uganda

In Uganda, massive flooding in Kampala has exacerbated several public health crises as latrines have flooded in poor areas and standing flood waters have led to greater breeding of mosquitos. This has multiplied a local cholera outbreak that began in February 2018 and has killed 45 people and affected 2000 others. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somali Flash Floods</span>

The Somali Flash Floods are a group of flash floods that occur annually in the country of Somalia. The floods are a result of the Gu rains, which is the monsoon like rainfall that comes every March in the region. Every year, in the period shortly after the Gu rains from March to July, flash floods hit the lower Jubba and lower Shabelle regions of Somalia. These flash floods cause devastation and destruction, causing casualties and displacement. In recent years, the effects of the floods have increased compared to past floods. This is due to Somali population increase and continuing lack of preparation mechanisms, and they may be exemplified by meteorological reasons as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep Depression ARB 01 (2013)</span>

Deep Depression ARB 01 was the second deadliest tropical cyclone worldwide in 2013 as well as the deadliest to affect Somalia in recorded history. The sixth tropical cyclone and third deep depression of the 2013 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, ARB 01 formed in the Arabian Sea on November 8. The cyclone subsequently strengthened into a deep depression before making landfall in the Puntland region of Somalia at peak intensity on November 11. After making landfall, the cyclone rapidly weakened over land and degenerated into a well-marked low-pressure area later on the same day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 North Indian Ocean cyclone season</span>

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The Patel Milmet Dam was a privately owned embankment dam located near the township of Solai, Nakuru County, in Kenya's Rift Valley. The dam burst amid heavy rains on 9 May 2018, killing at least 48 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclone Sagar</span> Tropical cyclone which made landfall in Somalia and Somaliland

Cyclonic Storm Sagar was the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in Somalia and Somaliland in recorded history until Gati in 2020, and the first named cyclone of the 2018 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. Forming on May 16 east of the Guardafui Channel, Sagar intensified into a cyclonic storm on the next day, as it gradually organized. The storm turned to the west-southwest and traversed the entirety of the Gulf of Aden, making landfall over Somaliland on May 19, farther west than any other storm on record in the North Indian Ocean. Sagar weakened into a remnant low on May 20.

The following lists events that happened during 2020 in East Africa. The countries listed are those described in the United Nations geoscheme for East Africa: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Réunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019–2022 locust infestation</span> Locust outbreak in East Africa, West Asia and South Asia

Between June 2019 and February 2022, a major outbreak of desert locusts began developing, threatening food supplies in East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent. The outbreak was the worst to hit Kenya in 70 years, and the worst in 25 years for Ethiopia, Somalia, and India.

Events of 2020 in Ethiopia.

The 2020 East Africa floods were a natural disaster in Rwanda, Kenya, Somalia, Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti and Tanzania, affecting at least 700,000 people. They began when excessive rains began falling in March, leading to massive flooding and landslides. They caused more than 430 deaths, notably in Kenya and Rwanda. In the fall another round of floods hit the African Sahel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weather of 2020</span>

The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 2020.

The following lists events that happened during 2021 in East Africa. The countries listed are those described in the United Nations geoscheme for East Africa: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Réunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclone Eloise</span> South-West Indian Ocean cyclone in 2021

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Africa floods</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate change in Uganda</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 South Asian floods</span>

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From February to late-December 2023, floods killed over 2,600 people in 15 countries across Africa.

The 2023 African Great Lakes floods are floods in April and May 2023 that have killed hundreds of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

Starting 18 April 2024, floods hit Kenya, affecting people in 33 of the 47 counties, while also causing devastation in northern Tanzania.

References

  1. 1 2 Quackenbush, Casey (8 May 2018). "200 People Have Been Killed in Landslides Across Rwanda This Year". Time . Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  2. 1 2 Mukoya, Thomas (10 May 2018). "Kenyan rose-farm dam bursts, 'sea of water' kills 47". Reuters . Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  3. ↑ Kwamboka, Everlyne (12 May 2018). "Embu records highest rain as Narok and Makindu surpass 1997 El Nino levels". The Standard . Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  4. 1 2 Gebre, Samuel (29 May 2018). "Fatal Floods in Eastern Africa May Mean Yet More Food Shortages". Bloomberg News . Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  5. 1 2 Okiror, Samuel (8 May 2018). "Lethal flash floods hit east African countries already in dire need". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  6. 1 2 Kanamugire, Johnson (19 May 2018). "Raging floods destroy costly infrastructure in East Africa". The EastAfrican . Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "Floods kill 186 across Kenya: UN agency". Xinhua News Agency . 8 June 2018. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  8. ↑ "Floods death toll rises to 172". 18 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  9. ↑ Kangongo, Joseph (27 May 2018). "Five die, 10,000 displaced after four dams in Baringo burst". The Star . Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  10. 1 2 Henson, Bob. "Sagar Pounds Somalia; New Cyclone May Threaten Oman". Weather Underground. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  11. 1 2 "Over 30 Killed As Cyclone Hits Horn of Africa". The World News. Voice of America. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  12. ↑ "Burundi: Floods in Gatumba". ReliefWeb . Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  13. ↑ "East Africa hunger crisis Flash Alert: Floods in East Africa, 11 May 2018". ReliefWeb. 12 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  14. ↑ "Uganda strives to contain raging cholera outbreaks". Xinhua News Agency. 8 May 2018. Archived from the original on May 8, 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
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