Kenya floods: Survivors seek loved ones as evacuation ordered

Kenyans living in areas at risk of flooding or landslides will be asked to evacuate on Wednesday, the country's president has said. William Ruto was speaking in Mai Mahiu , north of Nairobi, where an overflowing reservoir has wiped out a swathe of houses and swept dozens of people to their deaths. This is "not a time for guesswork" he said, noting the forecast for more heavy rain.

Although no definitive number was given, an evacuation order of this scale will likely target many thousands of people.The rainy season has been extra punishing this year, and weeks of flooding have killed at least 170 people. But the disaster at Mai Mahiu has been the most catastrophic so far. Rescue workers continued the search for more of the dead.

Some stopped at an enormous heap of broken branches that covered a crushed house. A family of six had lived there and the workers suspected that they might be buried under the mound. They called in a bulldozer to clear out the debris, but it did not find evidence of a watery death.

Further downstream, a rescue team found the body of a woman tucked away in logs at the top of a bridge. Onlookers recognized her as someone who had worked at a local 24-hour car wash. Another woman, who did not identify herself, trekked to the site to see if her three missing sisters had washed up there. Her brother had searched for them in a nearby hospital, but came back empty-handed, she said.

The family lived off their livestock - all gone now. Their 900 hens perished. And of 21 pigs, only five are left. They are appealing for help, and President Ruto promised government support when he stopped at a local school sheltering survivors. Those gathered were told they would get help rebuilding their houses, but not next to the river if experts deemed it possible they could once again be in the pathway of such destruction