According to official report on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, torrential rains and resultant flash floods continue to swell the flow of the Blue Nile.

This has led to devastating consequences as houses were emerged, roads were cut off and loss of lives. Meanwhile, the official death toll in this season’s floods has risen to more than 50 as at Tuesday. However, the Civil Defence Department warned that the death toll in the floods will rise more than the recorded number as rescue efforts are underway.

The water level of the Blue Nile in Singa rose six centimetres above the level of Saturday, when it reached 16.58 metres on Monday, as a result of heavy rain in large parts of Sennar state. In addition to the torrential rains flowing through Khor El Melewiya and Khor El Gaara, vehicles were brought to a stop in the vicinity of Khor El Gaara, South of Abu Hajjar.

Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirms that heavy rains and flash flooding have so far been reported in 12 out of 18 states. The states include: El Gezeera, Blue Nile, El Gedaref, Khartoum, North Kordofan, Northern Sate, River Nile, Sennar, South Darfur, South Kordofan, West Darfur, and White Nile.

So far, over 61,800 people have been affected as of August 23, 2021. A total of 3,840 homes were destroyed, 8,160 damaged and an unconfirmed number of public infrastructure and farmland have been affected.

Moreover, the UN noted that, further assessments will take place in Al Riyadh Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in West Darfur and in El Gedaref State. This is to verify the needs and the number of people affected.

History of Flood in Sudan

However, the recent flood is not the first in Sudan’s history as over 5,640 people have been affected by heavy rains and flooding in West Darfur since July 2021.

In addition, over 627,000 people live in Aj Geneina locality, of which over 30 per cent need humanitarian assistance according to the 2021 Sudan Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO).

The situation is compounded as over 258,000 people in Aj Geneina locality are currently facing crisis levels of food security, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report covering the period between June and September 2021.

More so, inter-agency assessments are ongoing in Gedaref to confirm the number of people reportedly affected by flooding on August 11. Initial reports indicate that over 4,715 people were affected by heavy rains and flash floods in Al Mafaza town, Abu Rakham and Tunaydbah areas in Al Mafaza locality.

Meanwhile, about 115,000 people live in Al Mafaza locality, of which, about 23 per cent need humanitarian assistance according to the 2021 Sudan Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO).

Funding and supplies

There are stock outs of relief supplies in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), shelter, education, child protection and gender-based violence. There are non-food item stocks for 130,000 people.

In support of the flood response, the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) has allocated US$7.7 million to 14 NGOs in 15 states to finance swift humanitarian response when needed. In addition, some $7 million has been allocated to four UN agencies for the procurement of emergency stocks. Another $3.5 million is available for floods rapid response activities.

However, humanitarian partners have started the distribution of non-food items (NFIs) and provided other humanitarian assistance to the people affected.