Heavy evening downpour catches Nairobians off-guard
Nairobians were on Thursday night forced to spend hours on the roads following an impromptu heavy downpour in the evening.
Thousands of homes in Nairobi were also left without power after the heavy torrents.
The misery was shared by scores of city motorists trapped on impassable roads until the early hours of Friday morning, as well as by homeowners in some housing estates whose property was damaged by floodwater.
The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) warned motorists using the Thika Superhighway where travellers were stranded for hours after the seasonal river between Kahawa Barracks and Kenyatta University broke its banks.
The overtopping caused a heavy traffic snarl up on both the main carriageway and the service lanes.
A billboard along the busy highway at Kenyatta University also fell and blocked part of the Thika bound service lane.
Thika Super Highway Traffic Alert pic.twitter.com/99xi3xWnDc
— Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) (@KeNHAKenya) March 26, 2020
Thika road a mess pic.twitter.com/agptDp1QYT
— Peter kinyua Njiru (@PeterkinyuaNji2) March 26, 2020
21:45 Thika road, it's a mess, a proper mess,Kama kawaida pic.twitter.com/LuIzqM4wqW via @Jo_Kimoney
— Ma3Route (@Ma3Route) March 26, 2020
Kenya Meteorological Department had on Tuesday issued a warning to Kenyans telling them to expect evening showers over several places on Tuesday and Thursday and over few places on the other nights.
Nairobi, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Murang’a Kiambu, Meru, Embu and Tharaka Nithi in the highlands East of the Rift Valley will experience rainfall from Friday while the rest of the mornings will be sunny.
Afternoon rainfall in the regions is expected from Tuesday increasing to other places on Wednesday.
Evening showers are expected over several places on Thursday and Friday and over a few places on the other nights.