At least 13 people are killed and an estimated 15,000 displaced by flooding in Kenya

Passengers of a bus that was swept away by floodwaters are rescued by boat, near Garissa, northern Kenya, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Police said some of the passengers managed to escape just before the bus was submerged, while others climbed onto the roof. The incident happened just hours after Kenya's roads agency announced the closure of another section of the same road that was flooded after the Tana River swelled due to continuing heavy rains. (AP Photo) — Passengers of a bus that was swept away by floodwaters are rescued by boat, near Garissa, northern Kenya, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Police said some of the passengers managed to escape just before the bus was submerged, while others climbed onto the roof. The incident happened just hours after Kenya’s roads agency announced the closure of another section of the same road that was flooded after the Tana River swelled due to continuing heavy rains. (AP Photo)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Heavy rains pounding different parts of Kenya have led to the deaths of at least 13 people and displaced some 15,000, the United Nations said, as forecasters warned more rains can be expected until June.

The U.N Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, citing the Kenya Red Cross Society, said Thursday that nearly 20,000 people have been affected. That includes the estimated 15,000 displaced by heavy rains and flash floods across the country since the start of the wet season in mid-March.

The East African country has seen thousands of people killed by flooding in previous rainy seasons, mostly in the lake regions and downstream of major rivers.

The Kenya Red Cross Society told The Associated Press that five major roads were cut off by the floods, including Garissa Road in northern Kenya, where a bus carrying 51 passengers was swept away on Tuesday. All passengers were rescued.

Kenya’s disaster management agency issued a flood warning to residents of Lamu, Tana River and Garissa counties that are downstream of Tana River after flooding breached dams upstream. Residents have been urged to move to higher grounds.

FILE - Cows graze in a flooded paddock in Kisumu, Kenya Wednesday, April 17, 2024. In Kenya, more than 30 people have died since mid-March in flooding events that have affected more than 100,000 people, according to the U.N., which cites Red Cross figures in the most recent update. (AP Photo/Brian Ongoro, File)

Flooding wreaks havoc across East Africa. Burundi is especially hard-hit

An abandoned vehicle stands in floodwater caused by heavy rain with the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, seen on the background, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The United Arab Emirates attempted to dry out Thursday from the heaviest rain the desert nation has ever recorded, a deluge that flooded out Dubai International Airport and disrupted flights through the world's busiest airfield for international travel. (AP Photo/Christopher Pike)

3 dead amid heavy flooding caused by record rain in the UAE

Farmer George Gross, of Dog River Farm in Berlin, Vt., stands, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, next to a hole left in his field by December, 2023, flooding. The farm lost nearly all of its produce in the catastrophic summer flooding that hit Vermont in July. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)

Vermont farms are still recovering from flooding as they enter the growing season

So far, nine out of 47 counties in the country have reported flooding incidents

Mudslides have been reported in the central regions. On Tuesday four people were killed in Narok county, in the western part of the country.

The Kenya Red Cross Society’s secretary general, Ahmed Idris, told Citizen TV that “lifesaving assistance” including shelter and clean drinking water was being offered to those displaced and are living in camps to avert outbreaks of waterborne diseases.

The rainy season is expected to reach its peak towards the end of April and subside in June, according to the meteorology department.