Heavy rains damage hundreds of homes, kill 1 in Sudan’s Gezira state

Lina Altawell

One person has died and nine others have been injured as heavy rains damaged hundreds of homes in Sudan’s central Gezira state during the rainy season, local authorities said Thursday.

The Gezira Health Ministry said its emergency operations center reviewed cumulative damage recorded across the state between May 12 and Aug. 11.

A total of 503 families across 57 areas have been affected by rains and floods, while 447 homes were damaged, including 206 completely and 241 partially, according to the ministry.

Six health facilities were also completely damaged and 23 others partially damaged.

The ministry said it has carried out health interventions in affected areas, including distributing chlorine to disinfect drinking water, sanitizing collapsed toilets, conducting fly-control campaigns and spraying ponds and swamps.

Officials also reviewed the epidemiological situation in the state, including cases of dengue fever and hepatitis recorded since the beginning of the year, as well as efforts to curb their spread.

Sudan usually experiences heavy rains during the rainy season, which runs from June to October and causes annual flooding in different parts of the country.

Gezira, lying between the Blue and White Nile rivers in east-central Sudan, is one of the country’s most important agricultural regions and home to the vast Gezira Scheme.

The impact of this year’s rains comes as Sudan continues to grapple with the war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began in mid-April 2023.

The state’s agricultural sector has also been severely disrupted by the conflict.

The Gezira Scheme, which covers around 924,000 hectares (2.28 million acres), has historically played a major role in Sudan’s food production, but farming and irrigation infrastructure have suffered extensive damage during the war.

RSF fighters have also diverted irrigation canals to flood farmland and five villages, according to reports cited by the European Union Agency for Asylum.

The war has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced around 15 million, according to the UN and local authorities, while research by US universities has estimated the death toll at around 130,000.