Torrential rain and floods have destroyed homes, roads, bridges and other infrastructure across the region. The death toll in Kenya exceeds that from floods triggered by the El Nino weather phenomenon late last year.
In the central Kenyan town of Mai Mahiu, where at least 48 died in flash floods on Monday, two bodies were recovered from the debris on Wednesday, Kenya Red Cross South Rift Regional Manager Felix Maiyo said.
Military personnel accompanied by sniffer dogs had joined the search, Maiyo said. Earlier on Wednesday, government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said the total death toll had risen by 10 to 179.
Last year’s rains followed the worst drought in large parts of East Africa in decades.
In Kitengela, 33 km (20 miles) from Nairobi, Kenya Red Cross workers were helping to rescue residents whose homes were marooned by flood waters.
James Kirombe survived a deadly flash flood in the Kenyan town of Mai Mahiu, but his wife and infant child didn’t make it.
"The water came, and I felt as if something was falling. That's when the water swept us, with my wife and child. I got stuck and was drenched in mud. I got up and started looking for my child, the baby had cried for a while, but I could not find them. There was nothing I could have done."
Rescue workers continued their hunt for survivors on Wednesday (May 1), with government troops deployed to help with search operation.
The flood struck in the early hours of Monday (April 29), sweeping away houses, cars and railway tracks.
Dozens have died and more are missing.
"My heart is broken, I feel like crying, but I leave it to God, because it has really hurt me. That was my wife and only child, and now they are dead, I leave it to God."
The Kenya Red Cross and other aid groups are housing displaced residents in schools around the area.
The government said on Wednesday that, across the country, at least 179 people have been killed in floods and landslides caused by torrential rain since March, while hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes.
