77 people killed, 227 injured in heavy flooding across Sudan
August 13, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese health ministry has announced on Wednesday that 77 people were killed and 227 others injured by the heavy rains and floods which recently hit various parts of the country.
It underscored that 51 localities in 15 states have been affected by the heavy rains and floods, saying the total number of the affected households reached 36,256.
According to the bulletin, the most affected states include Khartoum, Kassala, River Nile, North Darfur and the White Nile respectively.
It added that 15,234 homes and 25,822 toilets have been completely destroyed while another 20.604 homes were partially destroyed, pointing that the health ministry had set up 94 emergency clinics in the affected areas covering 90.4% of the actual needs.
The bulletin further said that the major diseases reported at the emergency clinics included malaria, dysentery, diarrhea, pneumonia and eye infections, denying existence of any epidemiological cases in the affected areas so far.
The health ministry on Wednesday said that it had carried out 28 environmental sanitation campaigns at an implementation rate of 46.7% in various states, including 11 campaigns in Gezira, six campaigns in River Nile, five campaigns in Kassala, two campaigns in South Kordofan, two campaigns in the White Nile, one campaign in Gedaref and one campaign in North Kordofan.
The bulletin acknowledged poor implementation of environmental sanitation activities in most of the states, stressing that the health ministry dispatched several teams to assess health conditions and implementation of activities in the affected states.
It also mentioned that the health ministry provided a ton of pesticide to Khartoum state besides anti-scorpion venom serum to the While Nile and Northern states.
Meanwhile, the higher committee for floods at the Ministry of Water Resources on Wednesday reviewed water levels at the upper reaches and along the course of the Blue Nile, the main Nile and the Atbara River.
The committee said in its daily report that data collected from the main stations and satellite pictures showed rainy clouds on the Ethiopian plateau which means that water levels would continue to increase in most of the Nile reaches.
It said that the reach between Damzeen and Sennar is stable, while the one from the latter and Khartoum is witnessing a remarkable rise, with the reach from Khartoum to Dongola in the Northern state also rising.
The committee demanded the concerned bodies and the people in all reaches to be cautious and take the necessary measures to protect life and property.
Heavy floods have been common in the past few years in Sudan’s east along the Blue Nile but happen more rarely in the capital and the north where much of Sudan’s population live.
Floods and rains that hit different areas in Sudan last year lead to the death of at least 38 people and injured dozens.
(ST)