Sudanese ‘left in the open’ after heavy rain hits Chad camp, as Northern Sudan floods kill 5

Multiple houses accommodating Sudanese refugees collapsed in eastern Chad’s Iridimi camp due to heavy rain and flooding yesterday and today. In Sudan’s Northern State, heavy rains killed five people, injured nearly 60 others, and damaged over 2,000 homes.

Iridimi camp, which hosts Sudanese refugees mainly from Darfur, is in a low-lying area with a stream. High water levels due to heavy rains swept through the campgrounds, causing significant damage.

A Sudanese refugee living in Iridimi camp in Chad told Radio Dabanga that heavy rains and flooding destroyed many tents and mud houses, “leaving them in the open without shelter.”

The accumulation of still water and the lack of drainage could lead to the spread of disease vectors such as mosquitoes and flies, increasing the risk of diseases, especially malaria and diarrhoea.

“The rains and floods also destroyed food supplies and many of the refugees’ scarce possessions”, the refugee added. There is a shortage of urgent emergency supplies, such as tents, tarpaulins, and other shelter materials and food.

In early August, a joint Chadian-UNHCR team began to transport more than 5,000 Darfuri refugees who were living rough in a makeshift camp near the border, to Irdimi camp.

Newly arrived refugees in the camp told Radio Dabanga in May that they had lived in dire conditions for months due to the lack of available water, food, medicine, and the lack of healthcare for the elderly, children, and the chronically ill.

In eastern Chad’s Mile camp for Sudanese refugees, severe sandstorms caused the collapse of 2,000 tents.

A Sudanese refugee living in the camp, who spoke to Radio Dabanga, reported that no officials or organisations had contacted the refugees to assess the situation.

He described conditions in the camp as “very poor”, adding that “there are no latrines, forcing refugees to defecate in the open, and there a severe lack of water”. In addition, faltering humanitarian aid has left many without regular access to food. “About 20 people have died of hunger”, the refugee added.

Northern Sudan

The Ministry of Health in Northern State announced today that five people died and 56 others were injured in the state due to house collapses, electric shocks, and scorpion bites, as a result of heavy rains.

The director of the Emergency Department at the Northern State Ministry of Health, Etimad El Fadil, explained that heavy to moderate rains and strong floods caused severe damage to homes and government facilities. “El Debba was hit by a strong hurricane that affected large parts of the area”, according to the ministry.

An report issued by the ministry today said that 2,145 homes were partially damaged, and 265 homes were destroyed, affecting 2,418 families and 12,093 people in Northern State. 13 government and public facilities also suffered damage from rains and flooding in the period between July 14 and August 4.

Rainy conditions have hindered the mobility of rapid response teams, a fuelled a shortage of scorpion serums in health centres, mosquito nets, and chlorine powders for disinfection. There were no reported cases of drowning or fire.

The Early Warning Unit of the Sudan Meteorological Authority had issued a warning of very heavy rainfall for the first week of August for large swaths of Sudan including West Darfur, which shares a border with eastern Chad, and Northern State.