Heavy floods displace hundreds in Mapel town

August 6, 2014 (JUBA) – Heavy floods have displaced more than 200 hundreds of households in South Sudan’s Western Bahr el Ghazal state.

Residents of Jur River county’s Mapel town were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge on higher ground after heavy rains caused widespread flooding in the region.

Heavy flowing flood waters left a trail of destruction through local villages, with livestock and crops swept away.

Health officials in the town have also reported an outbreak of malaria among children, which they believe is linked to poor living conditions.

Many local women have no access to food or medical supplies and are currently sheltering under trees and resorting to eating leaves and roots.

Charles Nyiyuo Amok, who was displaced by the rising flood waters, said Mapel had experienced particularly heavy rainfall for the past two years.

Residents of Mapel were caught by surprise in 2012 by late season flooding in November, but this year’s rains arrived earlier than expected in May.

Mapel resident Baranaba Awer Kiir said the early arrival of seasonal rains had caused misery for many locals, destroying crops, livestock, homes and latrines.

Some flood-affected families had a lucky escape after brick walls collapsed of them as they slept.

“Our life is leading to a dim situation with fear of [a] further outbreak of diseases apart from [the] current malaria affecting the children due to living conditions in an overcrowded population with no proper shelters,” Louise Dut Nyiyuo, headman of Gorial village, said.

The Lulu Works Trust and Alur Youth Union (AYU) are currently making assessments on the ground and providing assistance to flood victims.

(ST)