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On the island of Tuti, where the Blue Nile and the White Nile meet, houses are being razed, reports the AFP news agency from north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
In a desperate attempt To protect their homes, residents place sand and gravel in braided cloth sacks that they then stack on a barrier between the buildings and the water. Here it is said that the Nile gives life. But it can also take time.
– Three days ago, the water entered my house around midnight. When I got up, the water went to my knees. I, my husband and our five children fled with what we could carry, says Swakin Ahmad, whose house was destroyed by the bodies of water, to AFP.
Swakin Ahmad’s house has been destroyed by the bodies of water.
Photo: Ashraf Shazly / AFP
Strong storms hit Sudan regular between June and October, which often leads to flooding. It is not uncommon for the Nile to overflow during this time. But this year’s water flows have been the highest in at least a century, that is, since statistics began to be kept. The levels of the record years of 1946 and 1988 have already been exceeded.
– The young people tried to save things in our house. But it wasn’t profitable because they already had water up to their throats and couldn’t see anything, Swakin Ahmad continues.
– In previous years, we have been able to leave home for two months to live with friends. But this year it is not possible, because their houses are also full of water.
Residents are laying down sacks to try to save their homes.
Photo: Ashraf Shazly / AFP
The authorities claim that more than half a million people have been affected by the floods and at least 100,000 homes have been destroyed. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that so far about 400,000 people have been affected by the floods in Sudan.
And now the Sudanese fear that something worse awaits them: Forecasts suggest that it may continue to rain for the rest of the month, both in Sudan and in neighboring Ethiopia, where the Blue Nile originates.
This year’s floods occur despite Ethiopia’s controversial construction of what is known as the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a 145-meter-tall mastodon edifice that has already begun to fill with water higher up the Blue Nile. .
