Devastating floods that have killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands more in East Africa are now inundating parts of the Masai Mara, one of Africa’s largest national wildlife reserves.
On Wednesday, the Telek River burst its banks and overflowed in parts of the nature reserve, flooding many tourist camps. A Kenyan Red Cross spokesman, Munir Ahmed, said more than 90 people had been evacuated, some by helicopter. Others fled through the water.
“The situation in the Masai Mara is so bad,” said Daniel Ikayo, owner of a safari company that operates there. “There is water everywhere.”
The floods in the reserve added to the heavy damage to key economic resources in Kenya, including livestock, crops and infrastructure.
“We’re seeing a disaster unfold,” said Brian Adkins, chief a trust which helps protect the Kijabe forest, which has also been decimated by floods.
Only part of the Masai Mara has been affected, said Mohammed Hersi, director of a safari company and former president of the Kenya Tourism Federation. However, Alfred Mutua, the country’s tourism minister, warned on Wednesday that all hotels and camps near rivers and inside national parks and game reserves should prepare for possible evacuation if rivers overflow.
Kenya’s long rainy season, which runs from April to June, is not the best time for tourism, but those who are there now have found their plans upended. “People don’t want to come here to drive into a lake,” Mr Adkins said.
The Telek River is across the “Great Migrationroute from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Masai Mara, and from July to October, over a million wildebeest and zebras cross — an event that attracts thousands of tourists from around the world.
On Monday, flash floods sent a deluge of muddy water across an area in the Rift Valley region of southern Kenya, killing at least 45 people, sweeping away homes and destroying roads. In total, 179 people have died in Kenya since the floods began and many more have been killed across East Africa. The floods were particularly deadly in neighboring Tanzania.
As the rains are expected to continue, Kenya’s presidential office on Wednesday issued an evacuation order for people living in danger areas – near, for example, rivers, dams and reservoirs – to evacuate within 48 hours. Over 30,000 people have already been displaced.
Mr Ahmed, of the Red Cross, said a total of 45 roads and over 370 water sources had been destroyed and over 600 businesses and 35,000 hectares of crops had been affected. People who made a living from small businesses, such as avocado farms or tractor operations, lost their livelihoods, local residents said.
What the ultimate economic impact of this year’s floods may be is unclear, but according to recent African Climate Foundation reportclimate change-related events, such as floods and droughts, led to a loss of 3 to 5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product from 2010 to 2020.
According to the report, the frequency and intensity of such events are likely to increase.
Kenya’s meteorological agencies warned on Wednesday of “an increase in the intensity of rainfall in many parts of the country from Thursday into the weekend”.
Judson Jones contributed reporting from New York.