Death toll from Sudan floods at 134 with 16 900 homes destroyed

According to officials, over the past week at least 20 people have died in Sudan as a result of flooding, raising the official death toll to 134 since the rainy season began in May.

The office of Brig. Gen. Abdul-Jalil Abdul-Rahim, the leader of Sudan’s National Council for Civil Defense, said an additional 120 people were injured from the past week’s flooding.

Torrential downpours throughout August and early September — the peak of Sudan’s rainy season — have washed away roads, houses, and vital infrastructure across the country, cutting off supply lines to rural areas in need of humanitarian aid.

According to the United Nations’ latest flooding report, some 286,400 people have been affected by the floods and 16,900 homes have been destroyed.
The rural east and west of the country have been the most affected by this year’s downpours.

On Wednesday, Sudan’s state media outlet, SUNA, reported that a newly built sugar factory near the eastern city of Kassala collapsed under heavy rainfall.

In 2020, flooding and heavy rains killed around 100 people and damaged more than 100,000 houses.