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KENYA-WEATHER-FORECAST
Kenyans brace for heavy rains, prolonged cold spell as erratic weather
bites
NAIROBI, Aug 29 (BSS/XINHUA) – Kenyans have been warned to expect more
heavy rains and cold spell as the East African nation’s weather continues to
be erratic.
Several places across Kenya have been hit by unexpectedly heavy rains in
the last few days, disrupting business as the rains catch residents unawares.
In the capital Nairobi, heavy rains that caught many unawares on Monday
evening created traffic gridlock on all major city roads.
A majority of city dwellers who rely on public transport spent hours on
queues that saw some arrive at their homes in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Motorists, similarly, had to endure long hours on roads as the rainwater
flooded highways exacerbating the situation.
“I arrived home few minutes past mid night on Tuesday night having left
the office after 6pm. I waited for public transport vehicle for close to
three hours and spend the next over two hours in traffic jam. It was a bad
day,” Joseph Otieno, a programs officer at a non-governmental organization in
Nairobi, said Tuesday.
Otieno paid 2 U.S. dollars for the journey, more than double the 0.8
dollars that the vehicle operators for the route on the east of Nairobi, his
plight capturing that of thousands of other workers in the city.
The Meteorological Department in its latest brief noted that the rains
would last for about a week and would be heavy in Nairobi and neighboring
districts.
“The Central highlands would experience mainly cool and cloudy mornings
with the possibility of evening rains up to Sept. 3,” said the Meteorological
Department Wednesday.
Others places that will experience rains include the central highlands of
Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Kiambu, Murang’a and Naivasha.
The current rains pile misery to residents of Nairobi and the neighboring
regions that have been grappling with a lengthy cold spell that began in June
and lasts to date.
In Nairobi, the capital, chilly weather started in late May and is still
biting to date, more than a month after it had been predicted to end.
Among those hit harder by the lengthy chilly weather are farmers,
including those who keep chickens and grow crops like tomatoes and potatoes.
For the chicken farmers, a majority have seen their egg production halve
as the cold weather causes stress to the birds.
Poultry diseases like coccidiosis and infectious coryza and pneumonia,
which affect animals like goats, have also been on the rise.
“I have never seen something like this before. This cold weather has made
me spend more on lighting and charcoal to keep the brooders warmer yet
production is going down,” said farmer Bernard Kimani who keeps broilers in
Kayole, Nairobi.
For human beings, respiratory diseases like common cold, flu and pneumonia
have surged in the last months, according to industry data.
Experts have blamed the current situation to the ongoing effects of
climate change, which have made the weather in the East African nation
increasingly unpredictable.
BSS/XINHUA/ARS/1631 hrs