Residence of Sudanese PM flooded by Nile

A part of the residence of Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, located on the banks of the Nile in Khartoum North, has been flooded. The levels of the Nile in Khartoum rose to a record height of 17.66 meters yesterday.

Nile water entered the PM’s residence from the back. Government teams then erected large barriers to prevent that more water flowed into the bulding. Sources confirmed that Hamdok and his family did not need to be evacuated.

In the area of Kodab in Karari locality in Omdurman, floods caused the collapse of 120 houses.

The Sudanese Ministry of Interior Affairs announced on Saturday that the floods in the country have left more than 100 people dead, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and destroyed at least 100,000 homes.

Thousands of Sudanese are now living in the open or in makeshift centres in poor humanitarian conditions. They need water, food, shelter materials, and medical aid. There is fear of major malaria outbreaks and the spread of bilharzia.

The Director of the General Intelligence Service (GIS), Lt Gen Jamal Abdelmajeed, reported on Sunday that the inhabitants of El Tamanyat area in Khartoum North have been evacuated. They received tarpaulins, mosquito nets, and blankets.

Prime Minister Hamdok flew to Singa, capital of Sennar state, in eastern Sudan today for a one-day visit to assess the damage caused by Blue Nile floods. He was accompanied by several other ministers and a representative of the Forces for Freedom and Change.

The National Security and Defence Council declared Sudan ‘a natural disaster area’ on Friday.

States

The Shendi station in River Nile state in northern Sudan recorded Nile water levels of 18.34 meters, which exceeds the highest recorded peak at the station by 27 cm.

The village of Madini, south of Matama, is entirely flooded. The villagers appealed to the governor of River Nile state to visit the area, assess the damage, and provide much needed accommodation and food.

In Tokar in Red Sea state, where Khor Baraka* flooded last week and broke the Dolbei Bridge that connects Tokar with the villages to the south, the head of the Operations Department at the state Ministry of Irrigation said that the water now reached Tokar itself as well.

* A khor is a seasonal watercourse.

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