Record Nile floods: At least 100 dead in Sudan

A man and his son have died in Blue Nile state when their house collapsed, bringing the death toll from the floods to nearly 100 since the beginning of the heavy rainfall at the end of July. The rise in the levels of the Blue Nile, accompanied by heavy rains, caused the flooding of large parts of Singa, the capital of Sennar, and neighbouring Um Benin.

The National Flood Task Force of the Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation announced that the Khartoum water station recorded an increase of four centimetres on Monday, as the level of the Nile reached 17.56 meters, breaking the previous record of 17.43 metres registered on August 27.

The Khartoum government called on the residents of the banks of the Blue Nile, the White Nile, and the River Nile, including the islands, to take caution as a further increase of four centimetres is expected during the coming three days.

The collapse of hundreds of homes and the displacement of thousands of families prompted the governor of Blue Nile state, Mohamed Suleiman, to launch an urgent call for help.

Callers from Singa told Radio Dabanga that the thousands of affected families are now surviving in critical humanitarian conditions at open spaces and squares.

They appealed to the authorities and relief organisations to speed-up assistance to those affected with food and shelter materials such as tarpaulins, tents, and blankets.

Torrential rains also led to the collapse of a number of houses in a number of villages in El Dinder locality, while water flooded large areas of agricultural crops in areas of traditional agriculture and field crops.

In El Sereifa village, a 30-year-old man and his son were killed when their house collapsed. His wife and another child were seriously injured and taken to Singa in a critical condition.

The National Authority for Roads and Bridges has warned drivers not to use the highway between Singa and Ed Damazin, capital Blue Nile state, due to its exposure to floods.

The authority reported in a statement that two kilometres of the road between Haroun and Jalagni are flooded. The water depth from the asphalt surface averages 30 centimetres.

In northern Sudan, the rains that swept through large areas of Northern State localities and caused the collapse of 1,057 homes, damaged 1,257 houses, and seven other buildings.

The Governor of Red Sea state in eastern Sudan, Abdallah Shangarai, yesterday issued an emergency order declaring Tokar a natural disaster area, after large parts of the town were flooded.

He called on civil society organisations to intervene and help the victims.

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