Sudan: More than 50 dead from floods triggered by seasonal torrential rains

Floods triggered by seasonal torrential rains in Sudan have killed more than 50 people and inundated over 8,170 homes since the rainy season started, a senior police official said Saturday.

Residents of Makaylab village in the River Nile province are trapped by flood water.

The whole village is flooded and most farms are ruined.

Residents believe that the flood water surrounding the area is affecting their health leaving many sick with no medical aid present.

Nineteen fatalities have been recorded in North Kordofan province, followed by Nile River province, which reported seven deaths, said Brig. Gen. Abdul-Jalil Abdul-Rahim, spokesman for Sudan's National Council for Civil Defense.

The western Darfur region, which has five provinces, reported 16 deaths, he added.

He did not say when the first causality occurred.

Sudan's rainy season usually starts in June and lasts until September, with floods peaking in August and September.

Abdul-Rahim said at least 25 people were also injured so far this year, according to the country's state-run SUNA news agency.

The flooding and heavy rainfall inundated 16 government facilities and around 40 stores, and damaged at least 540 feddans (acres) of agricultural land across the country, Abdul-Rahim said.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said an estimated 38,000 people have been affected by heavy rainfall across the East African country since May.

Last year, flooding and heavy rains killed more than 80 people and swamped tens of thousands of houses across the country.

In 2020, authorities declared Sudan a natural disaster area and imposed a three-month state of emergency across the country after flooding and heavy rain killed around 100 people and inundated over 100,000 houses.