NAIVASHA, Kenya (AFP) — The tourist boats that normally ply Kenya’s famed Lake Naivasha have had a different task in recent weeks: evacuating hundreds of flooded homes.

Although the lake’s level has been rising for more than a decade and has repeatedly breached its banks, locals in the modest district of Kihoto are still astonished by the scale this year.

“It hasn’t happened like this before,” said one resident, Rose Alero.

The Rift Valley lake has traveled up to 1.5 kilometers inland, say local officials, an unprecedented distance.

“People are suffering,” said Alero, a 51-year-old grandmother, adding that many neighbors were sick.

In her home, the water is waist-deep, and toilets are overflowing throughout the district.

“People are stuck... they have nowhere to go.”

Others have lost everything. Hundreds of homes are completely submerged, churches in ruins, and police stations underwater, surrounded by floating vegetation.

During a sudden rush of water, children were forced to leave school on makeshift rafts.

Joyce Cheche, head of disaster risk management for Nakuru County, estimates that 7,000 people have been displaced by the rising waters, which have also impacted wildlife and threaten tourism and other businesses.

The county has assisted with the transportation of victims and implemented health measures, she said, but there has been no financial compensation for now.