The\ndeath toll from landslides in north western Kenya triggered by unusually heavy\nrains rose to at least 60 on Sunday, according to Kenyan authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Downpours\nbegan on Friday in West Pokot county which borders Uganda and worsened\novernight causing flooding and mudslides that swept away four bridges and left\nvillages inaccessible by road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An\nofficial from the West Pokot county government said 53 people died, mostly in\nmudslides. She said seven people were reported missing. The official requested\nanonymity because she was not authorised to speak to the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials\nsay another five people were swept away while travelling in a car. Two other\npeople were killed after they drowned when a river burst its banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We\nhave never experienced or encountered tragedies that we saw last night,”\nWest Pokot Governor John Krop Lonyangapuo told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“At\nnight it rained for over 12 hours,” he added<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter\nAbwao from the Red Cross told Al Jazeera their teams at one point walked more\nthan four hours to reach some villages in the county.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rescue\npersonnel were deployed including from the army and police to try and prevent\nthe “further loss of lives”, Kenya’s president said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The\nnational government has said it has sent multiple agents to help with the\nretrieval efforts, but so far the people we have spoken to have said they have\nnot been able to reach ground because a lot of the bridges have been swept\naway,” said Al Jazeera’s Evelyn Kahungu reporting from West Pokot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Close\nto 5,000 families have been displaced by the flash floods”, she added –\nand a “majority of those who died are believed to be buried in the rubble\nand mudslide”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unpredictable\nweather<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Researchers\nhave warned warming oceans are causing unpredictable weather patterns in East\nAfrica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heavy\nrains and floods have forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes\nin the region since October, aid groups said earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kenya\nis experiencing a heavier-than-usual rainy season, the Kenya Meteorological\nDepartment said in early November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The\nmeteorological department has been warning that we should expect rains of 44\nmillimetres [1.7 inches] in the next three weeks, which will cause a lot of\nflooding across parts of Kenya, especially the low-lying areas,” Kahungu\nreported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOURCE:\nAL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The death toll from landslides in north western Kenya triggered by unusually heavy rains rose to at least 60 on Sunday, according to Kenyan authorities. Downpours began on Friday in West Pokot county which borders Uganda and worsened overnight causing flooding and mudslides that swept away four bridges and left villages inaccessible by road. An […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":12384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n