The onset of heavy rains in South Sudan has affected Bor South and Twic East counties in Jonglei in eastern South Sudan. Because of this untimely calamity, residents had to flee their homes and stay in refugee camps. The overwhelming waters submerged the drylands 1.5 meters below, leaving every part of the ground covered in water.
The calamity struck at the least expected time since the country is still struggling to control violence in Jonglei county. There is so much to deal with because about 157000 people already lost their homes because of violence. According to the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Assessment, the situation is challenging since the number of displaced people has increased tremendously.
Impacts of Floods in South Sudan
Destruction and Displacement
Floods are a natural calamity which many a time does strike with a lot of challenges. Since the heavy rains began, the challenging situation in the country has deteriorated. Floods have resulted in collapsing of homes while some waterlogged. As a result, residents have abandoned their homes to settle in the streets.
Like most of the victims, Achai described the waterlogged and collapsing houses a threat to their safety, hence migrated to Juba.
“I lost everything, and there was no place to stay in Jonglei. There’s water everywhere,” she said.
“We have been here in this water for weeks now, as you can see most of our houses have collapsed and some of them full of water. Now we are sitting on the street because we don’t have shelter. Now we are suffering a lot, and we are appealing to the government to help us with food and shelters to help us with the cold we are feeling now.”
Diseases
Doctors have diagnosed most residents from the flood-stricken areas with rheumatism, pneumonia, and other illnesses. This is attributable to the cold, humid environments due to the floods. Some of the victims have reported they stay in houses filled with water because the floods cut off roads. One of the residents, Deborah Arok,65, survived after she was airlifted from Panyagoor.
“I’ve been sleeping in the cold for over a week and now I’m suffering from something like pneumonia,” she shared.
Food Insecurity
South Sudan has been dealing with the food crisis for a very long time. The situation has, however, worsened with the onset of floods. Already the country was facing acute food insecurity because of the sub-national violence. The dependency rate is exceeding normal hence there isn’t much to feed everyone.
What is the Way Forward?
As the government officials plan on ways to best resolve the situations, the State Secretary-General has taken to endorsing embarkments. He urges residents to create embarkments to secure camping areas. Embarking is essential for more floods are to come. However, the coronavirus pandemic has limited the ability of humanitarian organizations to deploy measures to solve the situation.
It is not the first time South Sudan is experiencing a heavy downpour. The previous year it experienced a similar downpour which affected one million people and destroyed 73000 metric tons of grain.
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