A man has died after his house was crushed by a landslide while he was sleeping in the Chania area of the town of Nyeri in Kenya's Central Highlands on Friday 1 May 2020. The incident is reported to have happened at about 2.00 am local time, following heavy rain which lasted much of the previous day. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess
pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments,
allowing them to flow like liquids. The man's body was dug out by neighbours.
The scene of a landslide which killed a man in Nyeri, Kenya, on Friday 1 May 2020. Eutycas Muchiri/Kenya Star.
The town of Nyeri is 1800 m above sealevel giving it a warm temperate climate despite its proximity to the equator. It has a double rainy season, with a period of intense rains in April and May, then a slightly longer but not quite as extreme rain lasting from October to December. Such a double Rainy Season is common
close
to the equator, where the Sun is highest overhead around the equinoxes
and lowest on the horizons around the solstices, making the solstices
the coolest part of the year and the equinoxes the hottest.
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