Pibor floods cause massive displacement

Some 75,000 people were affected by severe flash floods in Pibor town and surrounding areas of East Jonglei State, southern Sudan, in mid-October, with a “massive displacement” of people and cattle to higher ground. Pibor town is currently divided into three “islands”, and the situation for the affected Murle people has been worsened by a low state of general health for some time, the general isolation of the area and the absence of either road connections with other regions, or all-year transport on the Pibor river, according to a joint Jonglei State-UN report last week. The immediate requirements identified were human and veterinary medicines, food, shelter, utensils and drinking water. Longer-term proposals included water catchment and embankment works, as well as the construction of an all-weather road linking Pibor with Malakal - the main Nile river port for south Sudan, the report added.