Khartoum formally seeks UN help on flooding

The government on Sunday requested the United Nations to provide assistance in kind and services as part of an immediate response to the urgent needs of flood-affected people, UNOCHA reported in its third flood situation update on Wednesday, 22 August. Between flooding arising from the seasonal rise in the water levels of the River Nile and additional flash floods, 10 states have been affected, with Kassala, River Nile and South Darfur worst affected, it stated. Over 61,000 people have been affected in all, 14,000 of those in Kassala state, it added. Infrastructure was particularly affected in River Nile State. The needs identified by the government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) included, as before, tents, plastic sheeting, medicine, water pumps, sanitation, food and empty sacks to make sandbags. A UN inter-agency mission is planned for Thursday, 23 August, to assess needs and the approach to be taken in light of the findings of missions earlier in the week to Sinnar and Atbara. [for further details, see OCHA report on Sudan page at: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/WCE?OpenForm] The FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture (GIEWS) warned on Wednesday that extensive flooding in northern and eastern Sudan in the past few weeks had destroyed crops and aggravated chronic food insecurity. Following two consecutive years of serious drought, flooding had exacerbated the “already precarious food supply situation” in northern and eastern parts along the Nile, including areas around the capital, Khartoum, GIEWS stated in a special alert. Although a full assessment of crop damage was not available, preliminary indications suggested “significant crop and livestock losses” in the north, it added. [more details at: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/archive/sudan.phtml]