Months of heavy rain due to seasonal monsoons and rainy seasons have led to flooding (both riverine and flash flooding), deaths and displacement in several East African countries, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Somalia.
At least 1.6 million people have been affected, 473 have died and more than 410,000 have been displaced.
Two cyclones hit the region in May, worsening the flooding and causing more rain, deaths and destruction in Tanzania and Kenya. Cyclones rarely reach this area, but now, twice in a month, record-breaking Indian Ocean cyclones have formed and affected the region.
Generally, cyclones form at least 300 miles away from the equator (or 5˚ latitude north or south). Cyclone IALY transformed from a storm to a cyclone in the South-West Indian Ocean basin at just 4.7˚S, less than 190 miles from Mombasa. It is the most northerly cyclone ever formed below the equator. IALY dissipated on May 22 around 4:00 p.m. local time at 1.4˚south, the strongest cyclone to get that close to the equator in eight years.
While Cyclone IALY stayed more than 90 miles offshore, winds reached the Kenyan Kilifi coastal region on May 21, injuring six people and killing two others, including a four-year-old girl. It is the strongest cyclone to ever get that close to Kenya.
(Photo: Flood damage in town of Mai Mahiu in Nakuru County, Kenya, April 29, 2024. Credit: Kipchumba Murkomen, Cabinet Secretary for Roads, Transport, and Public Works in Kenya via X)
