Kenya is facing a climate calamity that reads more like a disaster movie than a real-world scenario. In the span of just two years, the country has gone from experiencing its worst drought in four decades to suffering through devastating floods. The same skies that withheld rain for years have now unleashed it with such ferocity that homes have vanished, crops have been drowned, and hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee. If this is the future climate scientists warned us about, Kenya is already living it.
The latest flooding, triggered by the long rains season between March and May, has engulfed almost the entire country. Unrelenting rainfall, intensified by El Niño weather patterns, turned roads into rivers and fields into swamps. Entire neighborhoods in Nairobi’s informal settlements were submerged, with families clinging to rooftops and rescuers navigating makeshift boats through murky waters. According to official data, over 330,000 people have been displaced. And these are just the reported figures—many more remain unaccounted for in remote and hard-to-reach areas.
Ironically, it was only months ago that humanitarian agencies were raising alarm bells over Kenya’s crippling drought. The arid and semi-arid lands, which cover more than 80 percent of the country, were the epicenter of that slow-burn disaster. Livestock dropped dead in droves, water sources dried up, and communities faced acute food insecurity. The government and aid agencies scrambled to respond, but just as they were beginning to manage the crisis, the pendulum swung in the other direction—only this time, nature came down like a hammer.
The floods have destroyed over 10,000 acres of farmland, just as farmers were beginning to recover from drought-induced crop failures. In a country where agriculture employs the majority of the population, this is no small blow. Maize fields in Rift Valley, tomato farms in Central Kenya, and rice paddies in the east have all been reduced to wastelands. Food prices, already sky-high due to inflation and previous harvest shortfalls, are expected to soar even further.
Beyond food security, the health sector is buckling under the pressure. With standing water everywhere and sanitation systems overwhelmed, the risk of waterborne diseases has exploded. The Ministry of Health has reported a spike in cases of cholera and typhoid, especially in flood-prone areas like Kisumu, Garissa, and parts of Nairobi. Hospitals are struggling to cope, often lacking basic supplies and clean water themselves. In some rural clinics, nurses are treating patients under candlelight with floodwater lapping at their doors.
Children are among the most vulnerable in this unfolding crisis. Over 1,200 schools have been damaged or are being used as temporary shelters for displaced families. That means tens of thousands of children are out of class yet again, compounding an already shaky post-COVID education recovery. For those still in school, the journey has become perilous—students now wade through knee-deep water just to attend lessons, when they can attend at all.
The government has declared the floods a national emergency, but the response has been hampered by logistical hurdles and limited resources. Bridges and roads have collapsed, complicating relief efforts. Emergency shelters are overcrowded and under-equipped, and displaced communities report waiting days before receiving any aid. While the Kenya Red Cross and county governments are doing what they can, the sheer scale of the disaster has overwhelmed local capacities.
International organizations like the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have stepped in to help. IOM is providing emergency shelter, clean water, and healthcare services in several of the worst-hit counties. However, funding shortfalls have constrained their ability to meet growing needs. With over $34 million required to respond effectively to the crisis, only a fraction has been raised so far.
This flood-drought-flood sequence isn’t just a freak occurrence—it’s a textbook case of climate volatility, and it’s a wake-up call. Kenya is one of many countries on the frontlines of climate change, facing a new normal defined by unpredictable and extreme weather. Yet adaptation efforts remain underfunded, and climate resilience still feels like a buzzword rather than a practiced policy.
What Kenya needs now is more than just sandbags and food drops. The country needs a serious, well-financed investment in climate adaptation: stronger infrastructure, better early warning systems, reforestation, and sustainable water management. Without these measures, the next drought—or flood—will just be another headline waiting to happen. In the meantime, ordinary Kenyans are doing what they’ve always done in times of crisis—helping one another, holding on to faith, and hoping for a break in the clouds. But with each passing season, that hope becomes harder to sustain. When it rains, it pours. And right now, it’s pouring hard.
