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UN Appeals for Help as Sudan Suffers Worst Flooding in a Century

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - The United Nations reports hundreds of thousands of Sudanese
   affected by what is described as the worst flooding in a century are in
   desperate need of emergency aid to help them survive this humanitarian
   disaster.

   The U.N. appeal comes after torrential rains in Ethiopia over the last
   few days triggered severe flooding downstream in Sudan. The floodwaters
   have caused the Nile River to reach the highest level in 100 years.
   The consequences are catastrophic.
   The Sudanese government reports at least 90 people have been killed and
   380,000 affected across the country. It says nearly 80,000 homes have
   been destroyed or damaged, rendering hundreds of thousands of people
   homeless. In addition, 34 schools and nearly 2,700 health facilities
   have been put out of commission.
   The spokesman for the U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian
   affairs, Jens Laerke, says this crisis is unfolding as the coronavirus
   spreads across the country.
   "Access to clean water, critical in the middle of the COVID-19
   pandemic, has also been affected'¦. Some 2,000 water sources are
   contaminated or non-functional, according to initial assessments. In
   Khartoum, now in a state of emergency, the immediate need is to shore
   up the banks of the Nile and provide shelter to the homeless," Laerke
   said.

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