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[00:01.20] Heavy rains and severe flooding have been hitting Kenya since March.

[00:09.17] They are among the most disastrous rainstorms to hit the East African country in recent years.

[00:18.73] At least 169 people have died from the heavy rains.

[00:26.17] At least 91 others are missing, the latest government estimates say.

[00:33.61] On Monday, at least 48 people died after water blew through a blocked river tunnel under a railway line in southwestern Kenya.

[00:47.16] The flooding has displaced more than 190,000 people and damaged roads and other structures.

[00:58.58] Seasonal weather patterns, climate change and other natural weather events all combine to create deadly rainstorms.

[01:11.33] Kenya and some other parts of eastern Africa have two main rainfall periods: the “long rains” season from March to May, and the “short rains” season from October to December.

[01:31.52] The “long rains” season is when most of the country’s average yearly rainfall happens.

[01:39.75] In its forecast for this year’s “long rains” season, the Kenya Meteorological Department predicted above-average rainfall in many parts of the country.

[01:56.22] It also warned of flooding, landslides and other harmful effects.

[02:02.59] Last year’s “short rains” season saw severe storms in many parts of the country.

[02:10.83] The meteorological department said Lamu, Mombasa and Garissa areas received nearly three times their long-term average rainfall.

[02:25.70] Kenya's rainfall frequency and intensity are affected by a natural climate system called the Indian Ocean Dipole.

[02:39.52] The Indian Ocean Dipole makes the surface of the western Indian Ocean warmer and then colder than the eastern Indian Ocean.

[02:53.06] It causes heavy rainfall in areas west of the Indian Ocean, such as Kenya, and droughts in Indonesia and Australia.

[03:08.20] Joyce Kimutai is a researcher at Imperial College London.

[03:12.72] She said that, in Kenya’s case, the Indian Ocean Dipole and climate change are likely bringing more severe rainfall and flooding.

[03:24.67] In a study in December last year, Kimutai and other scientists from World Weather Attribution found that human-caused climate change had made last year’s “short rains” season in Kenya and other parts of eastern Africa up to two times more intense.

[03:49.11] It has become more difficult to predict long-term weather in Kenya in recent years.

[03:57.61] The start and the length of dry and wet seasons have increasingly changed.

[04:05.31] The Kenya Meteorological Department expects the “long rains” season to continue into June.

[04:14.61] In its latest weather report on Monday, the department said it expects heavy rain in six areas of the country.

[04:25.77] It also predicted flooding in low-lying areas and landslides in hilly areas.

[04:35.06] Flooding in East Africa also has killed more than 150 people in neighboring Tanzania and Somalia.

[04:46.49] It has also affected hundreds of thousands of people in Ethiopia and Burundi.