International News
World Coming To An End’: Kenyan Town Copes With Life Underwater
Abdi Hussein sat alone on a Kenyan road strewn with ramshackle tents bound with plastic strings and covered with tarpaulins, peering into the sea of rust-coloured flood water.
The deluge had claimed his livelihood, his home and his wife, leaving the 32-year-old bereft as he pondered what was left of his life.
“It has been like the world is coming to an end,” he told AFP, his forehead resting on his palm.
“The water kept rising and rising and it swallowed everything.
Garissa town in eastern Kenya is no stranger to rain-related disasters, but its residents told AFP that the ongoing monsoon has brought a catastrophic level of flooding that shocked them.
Kenya is grappling with floods that have killed 257 people across the East African nation, following weeks of torrential rainfall scientists have linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon.
Almost 55,000 households have been displaced, with the rains submerging entire villages, blocking roads and hampering delivery of basic goods.
The downpour inundated five dams, unleashing massive overflows of water downstream across Garissa, Tana River and Lamu — a region home to more than 1.5 million people.
“We haven’t seen much rain ourselves but our biggest undoing is living downstream,” said Mwanajuma Raha, whose house was torn down by the deluge that also swept away all her possessions.
Unrelenting
At 27, Suleiman Vuya Abdulahi has been displaced by floods seven times,
including when he was just an infant.
But nothing prepared the soft-spoken farmer with tired brown eyes for this year’s disaster.
Marooned and unable to swim, he spent days on a rooftop, barely above the water, waiting anxiously for help as he watched the rains take over the land.
Displaced in November for three months, he had barely picked up the pieces of his life before the monsoons forced him to leave home again.
“We, ordinary citizens, are really struggling,” he told AFP.
Some people are refusing to leave their homes for fear of seeing them looted, choosing to live on rooftops and wading or swimming to nearby roads when they need food supplies.
The main road into Garissa, a key commercial hub near the border with Somalia, has been cut off, forcing all deliveries to be made by air or boat and causing prices to soar.
“We have never seen such a thing in our region,” said 64-year-old village elder Boya Ali Karani, now sleeping on the roadside after the rains destroyed his house.
No food, no sleep
At the makeshift pier outside Garissa, motorboats — which used to ferry tourists on Lake Naivasha more than 400 kilometres (250 miles) away — are in constant demand as they cart people and supply desperately needed food.
But the journey can be deadly, with a packed passenger boat capsizing last month. Seven bodies, including that of a schoolgirl, have been retrieved. A dozen people are still missing.
Boatman Mohamed Mansur Ali, 36, who was involved in the rescue operation, said the work was “very difficult.”
“First, you don’t get any sleep and it is very tiring because you arrive at work at 6:00 am and finish work at 6:00 pm,” he told AFP.
“You could be resting but then again get a call about a patient who needs to go to the hospital.”
The authorities have put some restrictions in place since the accident, with the navy stationed at the pier to ensure every passenger wears a life jacket and boats are not overloaded.
There are fears that the crisis could worsen as the rains continue, with the massive Masinga dam in central Kenya already at “historic” highs.
Daud Ahmed Shalle, the regional coordinator for the Kenya Red Cross, said the situation was “dire” in the 11 camps housing nearly 6,500 families in Garissa county.
“We have a lot of people in the… camps whose basic need, or most pressing need right now, is lack of food,” he told AFP.
Campaigners have called for more financing to tackle the crisis, pointing out that the worst affected communities are the ones contributing the least to extreme weather phenomena.
“The impact of climate change on communities is irreversible and will only worsen, leading to a continuous rise in the global demand for humanitarian assistance,” said Melaku Yirga, East and Southern Africa regional director for US development charity Mercy Corps.
The FIFA World Cup group stage has concluded, with the Netherlands securing first place in Group F and Japan finishing second. According to the knockout stage bracket, the top two teams from Group F will face the top two teams from Group E.
Two more Round of 32 matchups have been confirmed: Brazil vs. Japan and Netherlands vs. Morocco. The first Round of 16 matchup was announced yesterday, featuring South Africa vs. Canada.
Julian Nagelsmann defended question marks surrounding Germany’s commitment during their defeat by Ecuador, telling journalists: “Please stop the nonsense!”
Germany, already guaranteed top spot in Group E, were beaten 2-1 in their final group outing, as their opponents came from behind to snatch all three points at New York New Jersey Stadium.
Nagelsmann’s side saw their 11-match winning streak brought to an end, while they have now failed to register a clean sheet in any of their last nine games at the finals, equalling their longest streak along with their opening nine matches across 1934 and 1954.
And since the start of the 1998 World Cup, this was just the second time Germany had lost a game at the tournament in which they opened the scoring (W25 D2) following a 1-2 loss to Japan in 2022.
While not impressed by his players’ performance, he was quick to reject claims it was due to a lack of commitment, with their place in the knockout phase already secured.
“Please stop the nonsense, honestly!” Nagelsmann told reporters. “Didn’t the boys want to go full throttle?
“Of course, we made different changes than we might have done in moments when we urgently needed another goal.
“But we can’t tell any player that he didn’t step on the gas, that’s far too striking for me.
“We have to learn that after a good start and an early lead, we can play with more composure, instead of suddenly switching positions too much. We just need to be more patient and stay a bit more structured in our positions.
“We deliberately made a lot of changes. You could see that we also had a few tired legs. You can’t blame anyone for the fact that everything is a little slower and takes longer. We trust every player in the squad, and have to give the players the chance to show that.”
Coincidentally, it was in New York that Germany crashed out of the 1994 World Cup after surrendering a lead, losing 2-1 in the quarter-finals against Bulgaria at the Giants Stadium.
Joshua Kimmich, who won his 113th cap to move to joint-eighth with Philipp Lahm on his nation’s all-time list, conceded the four-time world champions were worthy losers against Ecuador.
“We started well, but then we gave the ball away too cheaply and kept inviting them on,” he added.
“We made it easy for them and let them grow into the game. In the second half, the defeat was deserved.”
Relegated Burnley and West Ham will meet on the opening weekend of the Championship season on Sunday, 16 August.
The Clarets finished 19th in the top flight last season and will host the Hammers, who went down on the final day.
Fellow relegated side Wolves will play the league’s curtain-raiser against Blackburn at Molineux on Friday, 14 August.
Elsewhere, Southampton, who will start the season on minus four points after the Spygate scandal, travel to Watford on the opening weekend and promoted Cardiff welcome Welsh rivals Wrexham on Monday, 17 August.
League One champions Lincoln start the season at beaten play-off finalists Middlesbrough on Saturday, 15 August and third tier play-off final winners Bolton begin the campaign with a home game against Preston on the same day.
The Championship season starts a week after clubs play their first competitive fixture in the first round of the Carabao Cup and one week before the Premier League gets under way.
Burnley, West Ham and Wolves will all be looking to secure Premier League promotions at the first time of asking.
The Clarets have now been relegated from or promoted to the top flight in each of the past four seasons.
However, now less than two months out from the start of the season they remain without a manager following the departure of Scott Parker in May.
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has remained despite them dropping out of the top flight after 14 seasons.
The Portuguese led Wolves to the Championship title in his one previous season managing at this level in 2017-18.
Wolves finished bottom of the Premier League in 2025-26 and sacked boss Rob Edwards earlier this month to bring in Cesar Peixoto.
They have bolstered their squad with former England defender Kieran Trippier and returning Mexico striker Raul Jimenez.
However, all three will be aware that in both of the past two seasons a team relegated from the top tier has suffered a second successive demotion to League One.
Former Premier League champions Leicester City went the same way as Luton Town had in 2024-25.
-
Health & Wellness10 months agoPresident Tinubu Directs Cut in Dialysis Cost from ₦50,000 to ₦12,000
-
News11 months agoPICTURE: In Lagos Couple Sentenced to 22½ Years for Cannabis Trafficking
-
Trending News11 months agoNELFUND Disburses ₦86bn To 449,000 Beneficiaries
-
Business3 months agoDangote Refinery Reduces Petrol Gantry Price To ₦1,200 Per Litre
-
International News3 months agoIndian Police Arrest Nigerian Over ₦290m Drug Haul
-
Business3 months agoAfter Plea Bargain, Court Discharges Stella Oduah of ₦2.5bn Fraud
-
Business2 years agoHeritage Bank Customers’ Path to Securing ₦5m Insured Funds: A Step-By-Step Guide by NDIC”
-
Business2 years ago
Dangote; We Did Not Fix ₦600/Litre Petrol Price