At least 3.6 million people were affected by floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains over East Africa since June, the UN humanitarian agency said in a report on Saturday.
“Water levels in several lakes in Kenya and Uganda are rising and affecting thousands of people,” said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
About 856,000 people have been affected by floods in southern Sudan since June, including about 400,000 displaced, it said.
The floods exacerbated an already difficult situation for people across the region, many of whom were already facing conflict, violence, desert jumps and COVID-19.
South Sudan’s Jonglei, which witnessed devastating violence earlier this year, was among the areas hard hit by floods.
According to the report, about 1.1 million people in Ethiopia have been affected by floods, with more than 313,000 of them displaced.
Meanwhile, “in Kenya”, water levels in several lakes in the Rift Valley, especially Baringo and Naivasha, are “historically high” after the highest seasonal rains that pounded the area from October to December 2019, the UN agency said.
The area also received rainfall above the 2020 average, which displaced thousands of people and affected livelihoods, schools and health facilities, according to the UN
