NAIROBI - Seasonal rains have started in Kenya, ending a harsh months-long drought that killed scores of people and thousands of animals and hit key export crops, the Kenya Meteorological Department said on Friday.
But the forecasters said it would take months before the effects of the drought were alleviated.
"Now there's availability of water but there will be the delayed impact on agriculture," Peter Ambenje, assistant director at the Kenya Meteorological Department, told Reuters.
Heavy rains have been pounding most parts of the country, including the northeast and coastal regions that were hardest hit by the lack of rains.
About 3,200 people have been forced from their homes and tourists evacuated from hotels in northeastern Kenya after the downpours burst the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro river in the Malka Daka area.
"We can confidently say the rains have established. In many arid and semi-arid regions, the drought is already alleviating, the dams are filling up and there is water for livestock," Ambenje said.
The drought had a regional impact, affecting millions of people in neighbouring Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
