Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, starting in early August 2013, resulted in
flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
damage in at least 14 of 18 Sudanese states. Over 300,000 people are reported to have been affected, with over 25,000 homes reported destroyed. Government agencies report that nearly 50 people have been killed.
Flooding
, the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
(WHO) reports that 320,000 people, or families, are affected. On 19 August, the WHO had estimated that about 250,000 people have been forced from their homes, with the Ministry of Health reporting 45 deaths and 70 injuries. Property damage was reported in 14 of the 18 Sudanese states and the WHO stated concern about the effect to public health of the collapse of an estimate 53,000 pit latrines. Flash floods continued to pose a danger in late August 2013.
The states affected are
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
,
Northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ra ...
,
River Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
,
Sennar
Sennar ( ar, سنار ') is a city on the Blue Nile in Sudan and possibly the capital of the state of Sennar. It remains publicly unclear whether Sennar or Singa is the capital of Sennar State. For several centuries it was the capital of the F ...
,
North Kordofan
North Kordofan ( ar, شمال كردفان, Šamāl Kurdufān) is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 185,302 km2 and an estimated population of 2,920,890 (2008 census) (3,340,000 (2011 estimate)). El-Obeid is the c ...
,
Gedaref
El-Gadarif ( ar, القضارف '), also spelt ''Gedaref'' or ''Gedarif'', is the capital of the state of Al Qadarif (state), Al Qadarif in Sudan. It lies on the road that connects Khartoum with Gallabat on the Ethiopia–Sudan border, Ethiopian bo ...
,
North Darfur
North Darfur State ( ar, ولاية شمال دارفور Wilāyat Šamāl Dārfūr; ''Shamal Darfor'') is one of the wilayat or states of Sudan. It is one of the five states composing the Darfur region. It has an area of 296,420 km2 and a ...
,
Blue Nile
The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water ...
,
White Nile
The White Nile ( ar, النيل الأبيض ') is a river in Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. The name comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. ...
and
South Darfur
South Darfur State ( ar, ولاية جنوب دارفور Wilāyat Ǧanūb Dārfūr; Janob Darfor) is one of the wilayat or states of Sudan. It is one of the five states that compose the region of Darfur in western Sudan.
Overview
Prior to the ...
,
Kassala
Kassala ( ar, كسلا) is the capital of the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan. Its 2008 population was recorded to be 419,030. Built on the banks of the Gash River, it is a market town and is famous for its fruit gardens.
Many of its inhabita ...
, and
South Kordofan
South Kordofan ( ar, جنوب كردفان ') is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 158,355 km² and an estimated population of approximately 1,100,000 people (2000).Humanitarian Aid Commission further reports affected populations in
Abyei
The Abyei Area ( ar, منطقة أبيي) is an area of on the border between South Sudan and the Sudan that has been accorded "special administrative status" by the 2004 Protocol on the Resolution of the Abyei Conflict (Abyei Protocol) in ...
and
West Kordofan
West Kordofan ( ar, غرب كردفان; ) is one of the 18 wilayat or provinces of Sudan. In 2006 it had an area of 111,373 km² and an estimated population of approximately 1,320,405. Al-Fulah is the capital of the state.
In August 2005, ...
.
The capital
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
was reported to be suffering its worst flooding in 25 years, after
flash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...
s struck urban areas earlier in August. While Khartoum is vulnerable to flash floods because of poor drainage and
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
, the 2013 floods were particular severe. More than 15,000 homes in Khartoum are reported destroyed, with thousands more damaged. The most damage in Khartoum occurred in Shar El-neel, Ombadah, and Karari. In Blue Nile, floods from heavy rains destroyed almost 12,000 houses in Damazine, El Roseires, Giessan, and Bau, with Damazine reporting the most damage.
Discrepancies in reported numbers
There are discrepancies between the numbers of affected given by different Sudanese agencies. The Ministry of Health estimates 66,895 affected households, while the Humanitarian Aid Commission estimates 105,964 households, . Assuming five people per Sudanese household, the HAC estimate implies 530,000 affected individuals.
Response
The Government of Sudan is leading and coordinating the emergency response. The Humanitarian Aid Commission activated the National Flood Task Force on 18 August. There has been public criticism of the government response. MP Al-Fadil Hag Suleima, head of the parliamentary subcommittee on Legislation and Justice, accused the administration of Omar al-Bashir of negligence in its response to the floods, and also stated that the states' governments were locating houses on
flood plain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
s for financial gain. Sudanese bloggers have been harshly critical, accusing the Khartoum state government of hiring companies associated with the ruling National Congress Party to build failed sewage and infrastructure projects. In response, two Khartoum state ministers accused Facebook bloggers of being "seculars" do not believe in the "act of God." The public outcry over the government response is seen as giving fresh energy to attempts to ignite an "
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...
-style uprising."
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
,
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
, the United States,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
,
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, Germany, Japan and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
have pledged humanitarian aid to flood victims. In response to the floods,a youth-led initiative called "Nafeer" was founded by Dr Amjed Farid and Gesr Centre to assist victims.
See also
*
2007 Sudan floods
On 3 July 2007, flash floods during Sudan's rainy season devastated much of the country's central, southern, and western regions. The Sudanese government referred to the floods as the "worst in living memory".
An estimated 200,000 Sudanese were ...
*
2018 Sudan floods From July to November 2018, Sudan experienced extensive flooding due to extreme rainfall. The most affected states were Kassala, West Kordofan, and Khartoum. By August 16, at least 23 people had been killed and over 60 injured. By November 5, over ...
*
2020 Sudan floods
In September 2020, profuse and continuous rainfall in Sudan caused a devastating flood across 17 out of the 18 states Sudanese states with the Blue Nile reaching water levels not seen for nearly a century. It ranks among the most severe flood ...
*
2022 Sudan floods
The 2022 Sudan floods saw the figure for flood-affected people in Sudan had exceeded the figure for 2021, rising to 314,500. From 2017 to 2021, there were 388,600 people affected by floods annually.
Description
Since May 2022, the north-easter ...
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed g ...
Floods
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
Floods
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...