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Heavy rain causes flooding in Sudan
1. DATE
Saturday 7 July, 2007
2. SITUATION
Torrential rains in Sudan since the beginning of July 2007 have caused
the Nile River and other seasonal rivers to overflow, resulting in extensive
flooding in eight States of the country. The floods have submerged villages
and caused immense damage to infrastructure, including roads and bridges.
According
to the Sudanese Government authorities and media reports and latest assessment
results, more than 30 people have been killed, an estimated 100 injured and
more than 25,000 houses completely destroyed and 20,000 houses partially
destroyed by the floods. Other news agency says the death toll rises to around
100.
3. WEATHER CONDITIONS
The Sudanese Government has issued flash-flood warnings for North Kordofan,
White Nile, Kassala, and Red Sea states, as well as North, South and West
Darfur. This emergency is at the very beginning of the rainy season and
the flood situation is predicted to get worse. The peak flood season is
between July 15 and end of August. In Kassala, the El Gash River has already
flooded and is higher than during the massive floods in 1988. Similarly,
the Nile is being monitored in Khartoum, in close contact with government
counterparts in Eritrea and Ethiopia.
According
to the IGAD (The
Intergovernmental Authority on Development) Climate prediction and applications centre, the climate outlook for July
2007 indicates that central and southern Sudan are likely to experience
near to above normal rainfall. Authorities fear the Nile will continue
to rise, further submerging the lower areas surrounding the capital.
Climate Prediction Center’s Forecaster
warn that much of the country will likely to face further flood threats from
the rains that are expected to continue until the end of the wet season in September.
4. NUMBER OF VICTIMS (as of July 18, 2007)
Dead
: around 100 people
Missing : 100 people
Affected : 2.4 million people
Damaged house : completely 25,000
partially 20,000
5.LOCATION
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Af.nsf/luFullMap/BAB9940AF3764752C125731A005947AA/$File/ifrc_FL_sdn070712.pdf?OpenElement
(IFRC: As of 12 July)
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Af.nsf/luFullMap/0B714611B2026E94C1257322003707D2/$File/ocha_FL_sdn070724.pdf?OpenElement
(OCHA: As of 24 July)
6. GFAS RAINFALL INFORMATION
According to GFAS, daily precipitation exceeding 5-year return period was
observed
Central and Northern part of Sudan on July 15 (Fig.1).
Fig.1:
GFAS Excess area map of 5-year return period precipitation (in red)
July
15, 2007
Please check GFAS page:
http://gfas.internationalfloodnetwork.org/gfas-web
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