Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdouk said, on Sunday, that the country has suffered a catastrophic loss of life in the worst flooding the country has seen in a century.
In a Facebook post, Hamdouk said, “River Nile water this year is at unprecedented levels since 1912, according to Sudanese Irrigation Ministry.”
It is reported that the River Nile’s water level has reached 17.48 metres, breaking the 1946 record of 17.26 metres.
The country’s Ministry of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity confirmed that the Nilometer located at Khartoum, which measures River Nile water levels, recorded the highest water levels seen in Sudan in a century. The ministry urged citizens and the concerned authorities to take precautions.
In the last 24 hours, many areas of Sudan have witnessed severe floods, with a significant amount of material and human casualties occurring.
According to statistics issued by the Sudanese Civil Defense, about 88 citizens were killed and 44 injured during this year’s floods. About 19,723 houses have been completely destroyed, with 36,412 others suffering partial collapse, whilst entire villages in eastern Khartoum have been damaged.
About 149 official facilities and 318 shops and warehouses have been damaged by the floods. Due to the unprecedented rise in the water levels of the Blue and White Nile Rivers, most areas in Khartoum are under threat of floods.
Sudan’s Civil Defense forces, backed by hundreds of citizen volunteers, are trying to set up barricades to limit the damage.
Hamdouk has issued directives for the continued coordination between all state institutions headed by the country’s Civil Defense authority, and all sectors of civil society. The move is to ensure that all possible material and human resources are mobilised to reduce the severity of the floods’ effects on citizens.
He has also asserted that the government is working to develop drastic plans to deal with floods in the future.
Every year, floods hit Sudan during the rainy season in June. The effects are, however, compounded by the significant nationwide deterioration in services, infrastructure and health facilities needed to deal with such a crisis.
