Mass evacuations in South Sudan

Unusually heavy seasonal rains have caused extreme flooding across the Horn of Africa, the Ethiopian Highlands and parts of South Sudan. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates around 156,000 people have been left in need of assistance.

Weeks of heavy rain have left parts of impoverished South Sudan under water. Many areas are now only accessible by air.

So far, aid agencies have only managed to reach around 100,000 people across the country due to the limited access by road. Access to the remaining people in need is proving to be very challenging.

The seasonal rains set in at the start of the month and have been more intense than usual. The worst affect area is in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal state which border’s Sudan. Over 45,000 people here are still in need of support.

The life blood of the region, the White Nile River, that runs the entire length of the country, has burst its banks in places. The main rainy season in South Sudan runs from June to the end of October, but flooding has been known to last until December.