[7] The resulting flood carved a chasm through a hill, washed away power poles, destroyed buildings (including a school), and submerged the villages of Nyakinyua and Energy.
[3][8] Kenya’s Interior Secretary Fred Matiang'i, who arrived the day after the disaster, stated that the death toll could be higher as the rescue teams are likely to recover more bodies from the mud and debris.
[2] The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that the flooding which contributed to the dam failure is expected to get worse with additional heavy rains forecast in Nakuru over the coming weeks.
[5][13] On 16 May, one week after the disaster, an interdenominational mass and memorial service was held at an Africa Inland Mission Church in Solai near the site of the dam.
[18] During the first day of the disaster response, forty people were rescued and taken to hospitals operated by the Kenya Red Cross and other local relief organizations.
[8] On May 14, the official government response team announced that the 38 individuals who had been reported missing of May 10 were accounted for, either found alive or identified among the 48 bodies recovered at that point.
[19] On May 13, the European Union's Humanitarian Aid office (ECHO) announced that they were sending $1.8 Million to assist in the disaster relief efforts.
[11] The Director of Public Prosecutions ordered a police investigation into the incident to "establish cause and culpability if any" behind the dam failure within two weeks.
[21] On May 11, 2018, Kenya's Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA) concluded that none of the dams on the property were properly licensed and were therefore illegal.
[7] Engineers with WARMA also noted that the remaining dams were unsafe due to structural weakness and the absence of any spillways for discharging extra waters.