Traders Devastated as City Floods Force Businesses to Close

The heavy rains experienced in Eldoret on Wednesday evening left the city grappling with a flooding menace.
In videos and images obtained byKenyans.co.ke, motorists were seen navigating through the flooded city streets as the water flowed with the intensity of a sizeable spring.
Most notably, Nandi Road had been turned into a river, with thesevere flooding disrupting businesses, traffic, and daily activities across the area.
Outside Naivas Supermarket at Kitmatt Centre, even bigger vehicles like lorries were seemingly struggling to traverse through the flooded street.
Following this development, Eldoret residents took to social media to express their discontent with the state of affairs in the city.
“All this stems from poor drainage in the city that prides itself on being the Royal County. It’s time the county authorities stayed awake to address the drainage standoff,” one such resident lamented.
“They should not continue to overlook such a critical issue. The city deserves a standard and effective drainage system that matches its growing status,” he added.
Others even recommended ways to deal with the menace, with one suggesting digging up huge tunnels 50 feet below city streets, which would reportedly be enough for tracks to pass through and drain directly into the River Sosiani.
Eldoret’s infrastructure, which was designed decades ago when the population was only a few thousand, has been grappling with several issues, including a poor drainage system, as the population has surged to over 500,000 residents today and is expected to grow with its recent upgrading to city status.
Unfortunately, Eldoret is not the only major city in whichpoor drainage is a hindrance, as the same could be said for Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
During the heavy rain season, Nairobi streets, both in the Central Business District (CBD) and outside the city centre, especially in the Parklands area, experience flooding.
Explaining why this keeps happening, Nairobi’s Chief Officer for Environment, Geoffrey Mosiria, claimed that flooding in the area is mainly because of the improper construction of buildings on top of the River Kibagare.