Sudan’s National Council for Civil Defense on Wednesday raised the death toll from floods following the rainy season that began in May, reporting the death toll at 150.
“As of September 21, torrential rains and floods have already killed 146 people and injured 122 others,” the Council said in a statement, adding that the collapse of houses, drownings and cases of electrocution are often the main causes of death.
The destruction of infrastructure and crops has also increased. According to the text of the Council, on this same date, 54,758 houses were destroyed and 74,444 others damaged; 367 infrastructures and public buildings as well as 298 stores and shops were damaged; 101,193 hectares of agricultural land suffered damage while 2,741 head of cattle perished.
Most of the 18 federated states of the country were exposed to these floods, but Khartoum declared, in August, a state of emergency in six states most affected, namely the states of the Nile, Gezira, White Nile, West Kordofan, South Darfur and Kassala.
Heavy rains usually fall in Sudan between May and October, causing severe flooding in the country which has been facing a deep economic crisis for many years. According to the UN, one in three Sudanese needs humanitarian aid, inflation is close to 200% every month, and the currency is in freefall.