Children play in flood water in Sudan's Omdurman city
As forest fires turn California’s sky an apocalyptic red, vast swathes of Africa are being submerged by once in a lifetime floods. From Ethiopia and Sudan to Nigeria and Senegal, torrential rains have displaced well over a million people and are threatening already vulnerable food supplies.
In Ethiopia, over 500,000 people have been affected after several rivers, including the Blue Nile, broke their banks. Some places recorded the heaviest rains in a century, according to Seleshi Bekele, Ethiopia’s Water and Irrigation Minister.
Officials say the floods have killed animals and destroyed homes and crops in a way not seen in decades. About 200,000 people have been left homeless in at least five of Ethiopia's 10 regions, said Mr Bekele.
Downriver the devastation in Sudan is immense. Earlier this month, the rains destroyed around 100,000 homes, killing more than 100 people.
The river Nile regularly bursts its banks in Sudan, irrigating the area and making parts of the vast nation one of the breadbaskets of Africa. But this year the Nile has reached such an ‘unprecedented level’ that the water is threatening the country’s 200 ancient pyramids.
Last week, archaeologists and officials were forced to build sandbag walls and pump water away from the royal pyramids at Nuri and Meroe. “The floods had never affected the site before,” Marc Maillot, an archaeologist, told reporters. “If the level of the Nile continues to rise, the measures taken may not be sufficient.”
In war-torn South Sudan, more than 600,000 people have been displaced by floods along the White Nile, according to the United Nations.
Across western Africa, the story is much the same. The river Niger broke its banks in Niamey, Niger’s capital, sweeping away mud huts and displacing more than 225,000 people, according to local authorities.
In Nigeria, with its giant population of 200m, the floods have reportedly washed away a quarter of the rice harvest.
Even the arid coastal nation of Senegal has not been spared. Earlier this month authorities there recorded 124 millimetres of rain in seven hours — the volume it would normally get throughout its entire rainy season from July to September.
Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security
Newer articles:
- Dozens Arrested in Sudan with Stockpile of Explosives - 17/09/2020 10:22
- Floods 'affect hundreds of thousands' in South Sudan - 17/09/2020 02:48
- Arman Calls for Better and Closer Relations With South Sudan - 17/09/2020 02:00
- Vietnam highly values encouraging developments in South Sudan - 16/09/2020 22:49
- South Sudan: Progress on peace agreement 'limps along', UN envoy tells Security Council - 16/09/2020 20:41
Older news items
- UPDATE 1-South Sudan president replaces finance minister, state TV reports - 16/09/2020 12:12
- UN envoy warns of delays in South Sudan's peace progress - 16/09/2020 11:24
- Statement by Ambassador James Roscoe, Acting UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the Security Council briefing on South Sudan - 16/09/2020 11:20
- How Britain Has Helped Millions of Children in South Sudan Access Health Care Amid Civil War - 16/09/2020 09:57
- South Sudan handed another chance at AfroBasket Qualifiers - 16/09/2020 06:15
Latest news items (all categories):
- UAE company agreed to loan $13B to South Sudan in exchange for oil - 27/04/2024 16:44
- South Sudan auditor flags spending of IMF funds - 27/04/2024 16:41
- UN Aid Trucks Held up at South Sudan Border - 27/04/2024 16:37
- South Sudanese comedians find laughs in painful past - 27/04/2024 16:34
- The DRC had the world's biggest military spend increase last year – and South Sudan was second - 27/04/2024 16:29
Random articles (all categories):
- South Sudan: Revise National Security Service Bill - 27/07/2023 07:49
- China pledges $43m grant to South Sudan mining industry - 11/09/2013 08:30
- Floods displace one million people in South Sudan - 07/10/2020 04:38
- In South Sudan, equipping young generation for young country's future - 26/06/2017 17:16
- استراتجية المخبارات الوطنية لتفكيك وانهيار حكومة جنوب السودان 2011- 2015 - 13/02/2014 18:15
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 32315 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 21862 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 20746 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 17311 times
- With prisons full, South Sudan to introduce mobile courts to clear backlog of cases - 11/10/2012 11:29 - Read 14214 times