"The ongoing devastation underscores the government’s obligation to prepare for and promptly respond to the foreseeable impacts of climate change and natural disasters,” said Nyagoah Tut Pur, a researcher at HRW’s Africa division, in a statement.

The destruction caused by the torrential rains, the human rights group warned, “has exacerbated socioeconomic vulnerabilities,” hitting hardest the poor, rural dwellers, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

As local and international media have reported in recent weeks, those affected – for example, in the overcrowded slums of the capital, Nairobi, made up of sheet metal shacks – have received little help from the authorities, while emergency hotlines have not worked in some places.

This is despite the Kenyan government having previously identified areas of the country likely to be worst affected and announcing in May 2023 that 10 billion Kenyan shillings (about US$70 million) would be allocated to support the national response.

The meteorological department also warned that same month that the rains in late 2023 and into 2024 would be intensified by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

However, “the government failed to put in place a timely national response plan” and “the whereabouts of the funds that had been set aside for the response remain unclear,” HRW said, according to the EFE news agency.

“Kenya seemingly has the capacity and resources to adequately prepare for the heavy rains, but the government has been slow to act despite the warnings,” an unnamed official from the Kenya Red Cross Society, which has been carrying out rescue operations in recent weeks, told the group.

At least 1,781 people have died since October as a result of flooding, overflowing rivers, and landslides caused by heavy rains in the west, central, and northeastern parts of the country, as well as along the coast, according to the group.

There has also been an increase in waterborne diseases, such as cholera.

At least 188 people have died in flooding in Kenya since March, according to a new report by the country’s tourism ministry, released today.

“The authorities should conduct a thorough and credible investigation to identify failures and lessons learned,” the group said.

The heavy rains in Kenya are expected to continue at least through next week, with flooding likely to continue into May, according to the meteorological department.

In recent years, the typically March-to-May rainy season, which also affects other countries in East Africa, has been intensified by El Niño, a weather pattern change brought on by warmer temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.

Western, central, and southern Kenya, including Nairobi, have been the hardest hit so far, with a river bursting its banks on Monday and flooding much of Nakuru county, where at least 71 people have died in the disaster.

Read Also: Pelo menos 188 mortos no Quénia desde março devido às cheias (Portuguese version)