‘More than 160,000 Sudanese affected by rains and floods’: OCHA

Torrential rains and flooding since early June have affected an estimated 161,700 people, destroyed about 14,700 houses, and damaged another 10,800 homes in many parts of Sudan.

At least 114 people have reportedly died, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan reported in its latest weekly bulletin. The most affected states are South and North Darfur, West Kordofan, Kassala, Sennar, El Gedaref, and El Gezira.

The heavy rains and subsequent floods of last week isolated a number of villages, damaged school buildings and hundreds of houses, and caused huge losses to farms in eastern Sudan.

The overflowing of the Blue Nile river in eastern Sudan has led to the destruction of 418 orchards, 130 water wells, and 50 irrigation units in Sennar, El Haj Ahmed Mousa, Head of the Orchard Producers Grassroots Association in East Sennar locality, told Radio Dabanga. According to initial estimations, the losses amount to more than SDG44 million ($7 million).

The authorities of Dar El Salam in North Darfur evacuated a large number of people to safe areas, after floods swept the locality on Wednesday.

“Six neighbourhoods are flooded entirely. A number of basic schools and more than 300 houses are damaged,” the Commissioner of Dar El Salam, Hamza Abulabbas Abakar, reported on Friday.

In northern Khartoum State, the Nile waters have surrounded the villages of El Faki Hashim, El Debba, and El Jaaliyeen, El Abdelab, and El Khalila. The road connecting the villages with Khartoum North is blocked. The flooding of orchards and farmlands with guava, alfalfa, and vegetables, caused huge losses, a farmer told this station.

The Sudanese Food Security Technical Secretariat reported in a July update that the State Meteorological Authority records indicated 2.5 times higher rainfall during July 2016 compared to the same month in 2015.

It is anticipated that flooding will continue throughout the rainy season, that lasts from June to September/October.