200,000 displaced, scores killed by floods in Sudan
Pastor Dale Morgan
*
*200,000 displaced, scores killed by floods in Sudan*
26 Jul 2007 16:28:00 GMT
Source: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC) - Switzerland
By Nawal Hassan Yousif and Anita Swarup in Khartoum
Teams of medial personnel from the Sudanese Red Crescent are working
around the clock to help more than 300 people who have been injured in
the floods.
Nawal Hassan/Sudanese Red Crescent
Nearly one hundred people have been killed in torrential rains since
early July in Sudan. Over 300 people have been injured, around 46,000
family homes destroyed, leaving up to 200 thousand people displaced. The
river Nile and several seasonal rivers burst their banks flooding more
than eight states. Flooding on this scale has not been seen for twenty
years but, with the heavy rain predicted to continue, the fear is that
the worst is still to come.
Nothing has escaped the fast moving waters. Farms and livestock as well
as roads, latrines, hospitals and schools have been damaged or swept
away. Whole communities have been left destitute.
Ibrahim Adam Yusuf, a resident in Jedel awlia region, around 45 km east
of the capital, Khartoum, says: "We were all worried as it rained
constantly for five hours and we were waist high in water. My house then
collapsed."
Luckily they managed to get out before the house disappeared into the
flood waters but all their belongings were lost - clothes, kitchen pots
and pans, schools books and the like. He now lives with his family of
twelve in a makeshift shelter and tent and is not sure when he is going
to get the resources to build another house.
Ibrahim's daughter is now suffering from AWD (Acute Watery Diarrhoea), a
cholera-like disease which spreads rapidly with floods. According to Dr.
Adel Tadros, the International Federation's Health Programme coordinator
in Khartoum, "the floods will trigger epidemics of malaria and AWD and
diarrhoea. The Red Crescent has to be prepared for that - or we could
see severe outbreaks of epidemics and possibly significant loss of
lives," he adds. Chronic malnutrition is also on the rise.
Cows, goats and chickens also died, seriously affecting livelihoods of
many farmers. Motasim Balla, a livestock farmer in Jedel awlia region,
lost seven cows and all 40 of his chickens - several of the farmhouses
also collapsed. He had a thriving business before but now he has been
reduced to only being able to produce milk from the few remaining cows.
With more rain forecast in the coming weeks and months, meteorological
organizations in the region are warning that as many as 2.4 million
people across 16 states could be affected, with areas in the north and
east expected to bear the brunt of the damage.
Sudan is one of the most vulnerable and disaster-prone countries in
Africa, having been hit by both drought and floods in recent years.
There have been six major floods between 1990 and 2001 affecting over
1.5 million people. The economic costs are immense - for example in 1999
accumulated losses due to the River Nile and flash floods amounted to
over USD 450 million. The Sudanese Government has now declared a State
of Emergency Alert in the affected regions.
At the Sudanese Red Crescent headquarters in Khartoum, a Floods Task
Force - consisting of SRCS staff, Federation and PNS representatives -
is hard at work mobilizing resources and coordinating the response. The
SRCS's updated Floods Contingency Plan and a detailed Plan of Action is
being shared with partners, as well as the assessment reports as they
come in. Assessment of the disaster response capacities are ongoing in
several parts, including the White Nile and North Kordofan states.
Several assessment teams have returned from the field, others are still
in the affected areas supporting local volunteers who are assisting the
displaced with evacuation of affected families and relief distributions
in Kassala, Gezira, Red Sea and Blue Nile States. Key management and
technical personnel are involved with support from the International
Federation. The SRCS Headquarter and the affect states' branches are
monitoring the situation closely and will provide updated information as
the situation evolves.
With many hospitals and health clinics destroyed or inaccessible, the
Sudanese Red Crescent has already installed five mobile health clinics
but more will be needed. It is also working with the Ministry of Health
and local hospitals in monitoring waterborne diseases.
Earlier this week, the Sudanese Red Crescent Society and its partner
organization including the Sanad (whose chairperson is Sudan's First
Lady, Widad Babikir) and UNICEF were thanked in a ceremony for their
assistance during the floods in northern Khartoum. In this part, 60 SRC
volunteers are still assisting flood efforts to place sacks of sand to
prevent water from flowing into houses.
The International Federation has already released some $200,000 USD from
its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the initial
emergency relief efforts of the Sudanese Red Crescent. So far, Red
Crescent volunteers have distributed some 1,200 tents, 2,000 plastic
sheets and over 3,200 blankets, as well as chlorine tablets, plastic
jugs, water pumps and soap in an effort to combat the inevitable impact
that rising water will have on access to clean water and appropriate
hygiene. Further materials are arriving from the sister societies in
Syria and the United Arab Emirates.
Following the DREF allocation the International Federation, on behalf of
the Sudanese Red Crescent, has issued an international emergency appeal
for 1.65 million USD to support the SRCS's operation. The appeal is
likely to be revised upwards in the coming days - and in view of
forecasts of ongoing heavy rain, the appeal will also support efforts to
prepare communities that are expected to face floods in the coming months.