Heavy rains have caused a dam to burst in eastern Sudan, leading to the destruction of at least 20 villages and killing dozens of people, reported Reuters.
Search operations for missing people are underway, amid fears of a high death toll in a country engulfed in a dire humanitarian crisis resulting from months of devastating civil war.
Arbaat Dam
Floods, resulting from torrential rains, have overwhelmed the Arbaat Dam on Sunday, located 40 kilometers north of Port Sudan. It was the main source of water for the city, which is the de-facto capital and base for the government and aid agencies, as well as hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
Port Sudan is also home to the country’s main Red Sea port and an airport, and receives most of Sudan’s aid deliveries.
The United Nations (UN) said that the Arbaat Dam collapse has killed at least 30 people. It noted that the flooding has affected the homes of about 50,000 people, adding that this figure accounted only for the area west of the dam because the area east was inaccessible.
Widespread Destruction
The head of the water authority for Red Sea state, Omar Eissa Haroun, said in a message to his staff: “The area is unrecognizable. The electricity and water pipes are destroyed.”
An emergency worker said that between 150-200 people were missing. He compared the incident to the disaster that took place in Libya’s Derna city last year when storms caused several dams to burst, sweeping buildings and killing thousands of people.
After the Arbaat Dam collapse, Port Sudan could face thirst. The Sudanese Environmentalists Association warned in a statement: “The city is threatened with thirst in the coming days.”
Worsening Conditions
Officials attributed the dam’s collapse to days of heavy rain that had come earlier than usual. However, Sudan’s infrastructure has been in poor condition before the outbreak of the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RFS) in April 2023. Both sides have directed their resources to the conflict, neglecting the country’s infrastructure.
The Sudanese Health Ministry said that some people are now stranded in the mountains after escaping their flooded homes. A government report said on Monday that floods have killed 132 people this year. Moreover, rains have displaced at least 118,000 people in Sudan, according to UN agencies.
Cholera Outbreak
Floods and poor sanitation facilities have led to a cholera outbreak in Sudan, which killed at least two dozen people, reported the Associated Press (AP). The World Health Organization (WHO) pointed on Friday to the reporting of more than 650 cases and 28 deaths in five Sudanese states in one month since the reporting of the first suspected cases of cholera.
According to WHO, an initial vaccination campaign against cholera in Kassala state, eastern Sudan, has reached over 50,000 people. It added that an additional 450,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine are on their way to the Sudanese people.
The war in Sudan has thrown the country into a humanitarian crisis. It has damaged the country’s civil infrastructure and healthcare system. In addition to killing thousands of people, the war has drove many to starvation, with famine taking hold in a camp for displaced people in Darfur.
According to the International Organization for Migration, the war has forced more than 10.7 million people to leave their homes. More than 2 million of those people have fled to neighboring countries.
