Kenya braces itself for economic pain as ‘super’ El Niño looms in October
Kenya is preparing for a severe El Niño event expected to last through early 2027, prompting residents in vulnerable areas to relocate. The forecast has raised significant concerns about potential economic shocks and humanitarian crises.
Why it matters
Climate-driven weather events pose a direct threat to the livelihoods and safety of vulnerable populations in East Africa.
A passenger is rescued from a submerged matatu at Grogon near Kirinyaga Road in March, following heavy downpour in Nairobi and its outskirts /ENOS TECHE
It is a hot afternoon in the sprawling Mathare informal settlement, but Thomas Otieno is already thinking about rain.
The 45-year-old father of four struggles to push a handcart loaded with household belongings through a chaotic stream of pedestrians, motorcycles and traders on Mau Mau Street, the busy artery connecting Mathare to Huruma Estate.
“I’m running away from El Niño,” he shouts, trying to attract attention and squeeze through the crowd.
For Otieno, the approaching rains are not an abstract climate forecast. They are a painful memory.
He lost a daughter and a brother to floods in 2012 after the Mathare River burst its banks and swept away their shanties.
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