Flooding leads to widespread power and internet disruptions in Kenya

Kenya is grappling with a crisis as unprecedented flooding has led to widespread power outages, plunging vast swathes of the nation into darkness and severing telecom and internet connections.

The recent internet blackout, which occurred on Thursday, is compounding the challenges faced by the East African nation, which has been battling the effects of devastating floods. These floods have claimed the lives of over 180 individuals in recent weeks.

Kenya Power, the country’s main electricity provider, issued a statement late Thursday confirming that the power supply disruptions were extensive, impacting a large portion of Kenya.

The deluge has wreaked havoc on infrastructure, resulting in electricity blackouts across several major urban centers, including the capital city Nairobi, as well as Eldoret, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru, and Nyeri. The authorities have described the situation as a “system disturbance” due to the damage caused by the excessive rainfall.

At the time this information was released, Kenya Power had managed to restore electricity in some regions, but the process of fully reinstating power throughout the country was ongoing. “The restoration of the rest of the country is in progress,” the utility company announced, acknowledging the ongoing efforts to rectify the situation.

The power failures have had a significant impact on digital connectivity. NetBlocks, an internet monitoring service, reported a substantial disruption to internet services across Kenya. According to their data, national connectivity levels had plummeted to just 56% of the usual rates.

NetBlocks’ statement correlated the internet outage with the widespread power cuts, attributing the connectivity issues to the ‘system disturbance on the grid’ as reported by Kenya Power.