2019 West Pokot landslide
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On 22nd-23rd November, landslides and mudslides took place in parts of West Pokot County resulting in the death of 72 people and displacement of more than 10,000 people.[1] Farms, food stores and livestock were swept away, and two bridges along the Kitale-Lodwar road and along Sigor road were rendered impassable, leaving road users stranded and disrupting communication networks.[1]This followed an overnight downpour that lasted 12 hours, preventing residents from leaving their homes.[2] Villages affected included Parua, Nyarkulian, Sebit, Muino, Tamkal, and Batei.[3] Kenya experiences landslides, mudslides, and floods during two rainfall seasons: March to May and October to December.The county has experienced similar disasters, including a 2008 mudslide in Cheptulel that killed 14 people.[4] The October to December 2019 season ranked among the wettest in East Africa in the last 40 years.[5] It was driven by a strong positive Indian Ocean Dipole, where warmer waters in the western Indian Ocean and cooler waters in the eastern Indian Ocean resulted in higher rainfall across Eastern Africa.[6] The Kenya meteorological department issued warnings on 18 November, advising residents in landslide-prone areas to be on high alert.[7] Floods affected at least 31 of 47 Kenyan counties, impacting more than 160,000 people, with nearly 18,000 displaced.[1]
West Pokot County borders Uganda to the west whereas its eastern, northern, and southern boundaries are shared with the Kenyan counties of Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Trans Nzoia, and Turkana.[8] The county's hilly terrain makes it susceptible to landslides.[9] West Pokot's economy relies on agro-pastoralism a combination of mixed farming and nomadic pastoralism, and its rainfall ranges between 400mm and 1,500mm.[10]