Heavy rain destroys dozens of homes in Central Darfur camp

Torrential rains in Central Darfur caused the destruction of more than 250 homes in a camp for displaced people on Monday. The rainy season is off to an early start this year as this is the first reported heavy rainfall that has led to damage.

In Mukjar camp, 256 were destroyed or heavily damaged. Several roofs of buildings such as the office of the World Food Programme and Unamid caved in or collapsed.

“The rain lasted for about an hour and a half,” a witness told Radio Dabanga. “A number of people were injured.” The listener added that the roofs of four warehouses that belong to the World Food Programme were heavily damaged, along with destroying the food in the warehouses. “There is mostly grain for camp residents in there.”

Heavy rains occur annually in Sudan during the rainy season (June to October / September) and Mukjar camp has witnessed similar rains and flooding in the past, also in the month of May. In 2016 high winds and torrential rains swept through Mukjar and Bindisi localities. A number of houses were destroyed.

Central Darfur is the only state in Sudan that continues to report cases of cholera, or ‘acute watery diarrhoea’ as the disease has been named by the Sudanese government authorities. The spread of the infectious disease in Sudan last year turned into epidemic proportions.

People feared heavy rains at the time as infections spread quicker when waste piles up in the streets. Wherein camps for refugees and displaced people, hygiene already proves to be challenging because of the overcrowding of people and under-equipped sanitation services.