Thousands of North Darfur flood victims living rough

Thousands of families in Kabkabiya in North Darfur are still living in the open after their homes collapsed due to the torrential rains that swept the area during the past two weeks.

According to preliminary data, heavy rainfall since the beginning of August destroyed 3,741 homes, most of them are located in the several camps for the displaced and villages surrounding Kabkabiya town.

At least 2,613 latrines and 12 water wells collapsed. 2,631 other homes were damaged.

Radio Dabanga reported on August 4 that four women drowned in floods south of Kabkabiya. By August 10, all streets in the town were flooded.

The Governor of North Darfur, Mohamed Arabi, visited Kabkabiya yesterday. He described the situation in Kabkabiya locality as “extremely dire, requiring all efforts to address it”.

The North Darfur state government will support the affected people with 1,000 blankets and 700 plastic sheets.

The Commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the region, Brig Gen Abdallah Abushouk, announced support amounting to SDG400,000*.

On August 5, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan, confirmed that torrential rains have led to flooding, landslides, and damage to houses and infrastructure in at least 14 of the 18 states across the country.

Nile water levels

The Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources reported an increase of 17 metres in the levels of the River Nile in Khartoum.

The Sudanese Floods Committee called on the authorities and residents of Khartoum and the northern states to take caution in order to preserve their lives and properties.

The Sudanese Meteorological Authority forecast moderate to heavy rains, accompanied by strong winds in eastern, central and western Sudan until Saturday morning.

* USD 1 = SDG 55.1375 at the time of publishing this article. As effective foreign exchange rates can vary in Sudan, Radio Dabanga bases all SDG currency conversions on the daily middle US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS).

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