10,000 families displaced and villages destroyed by floods in Sudan

Floods in Sudan have destroyed 33 villages and displaced 10,000 families in the country’s eastern province of Gedaref.

The floods have raged throughout the country over the past few months, having been caused by continuous rains of the annual rainy season. This season’s floods, however, are the worst in at least 25 years, resulting in much of the infrastructure being destroyed including clinics, hospitals, and schools, as well as transport being disrupted by damaged roads.

Mirghani Saleh, the state Governor of the Gedaref province, reported that the floods have destroyed thousands of acres of agricultural land and killed thousands of livestock. In a statement to the Turkish-run Anadolu Agency yesterday, Saleh said that “thousands of acres planted with peanuts, maize and sesame have been affected and thousands of livestock have been lost,” adding that the biggest challenge for now is to provide shelter to the affected citizens and displaced families.

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In late August, 48 people were killed by the floods and over 500,000 were affected in total. The situation in the region around the capital city Khartoum was particularly bad, with over 15,000 homes destroyed and at least 25,000 others across the country uninhabitable.

There are also fears regarding the potential spread of diseases and the floods’ impact on healthcare. With the collapse of over 53,000 latrines and toilet facilities, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has already warned of an increase in cases of malaria.