Sudanese authorities and the United Nations are rolling out aid to tens of thousands who lost their homes in record Nile floods, but many of those camping out on roadsides and higher ground are despairing of when it will reach them.
Sudan’s government said it had allocated more than 150 million Sudanese pounds ($2.73 million) to help flood victims, the state news agency said.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR said that with the help of the United Arab Emirates, it had flown 100 metric tonnes of relief material including blankets, which will be distributed across 12 states.
The floods have left at least 102 people dead in the country and destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of homes, according to the interior ministry. Authorities have declared a three-month state of emergency.
Standing by tents in south Khartoum, Idris Ahmed, who lost his home, said the government was not giving enough support. “They are not helping, not doing anything,” he said.
“I, as a citizen, am asking for my citizen’s rights, am looking for refuge.”
Residents packed into boats to check on their houses as parts of the capital Khartoum such as Toti island at the confluence of the White and Blue Nile were submerged.
“We hope that things get better, that this flood gets better,” said Alaa Eldin, another displaced person. “But from what we see, what is coming may be harder… that is why we are calling on everyone to stand by the citizens, the simple, poor citizens who have lost their shelter and home.”
Some 85,000 internally displaced and 40,000 refugees have been affected by the floods in Khartoum, in eastern Sudan, along the White Nile and the restive Darfur region who urgently needed help, UNHCR said in a statement.
The floods could also damage historical heritage, experts say. Water threatens sites housing the royal pyramids of Meroe and Nuri, two of the country’s most important archaeological areas, an official said on Tuesday.
The royal bath at Meroe, a basin that fills during the annual flooding of the Nile, was at risk from unprecedented water levels, and teams have been working since Monday to protect the site from being swamped, said Hatem al-Nour, director of Sudan’s antiquities and museums authority.
Meroe is an ancient city on the east bank of the River Nile about 200km (125 miles) north-east of the capital Khartoum. It was the capital of the Kush dynasty that ruled from the early 6th century BC.
At Nuri, about 350km north of Khartoum, tombs buried 7-10 metres underneath pyramids had been affected by a rise in groundwater, Nour said.
The Nuri pyramids include the tomb of Taharqa, who ruled over lands in modern day Sudan and Egypt in the 7th century BC. They are an “invaluable historical relic,” Nour said.
As in Egypt, local dynasties buried members of the royal family in pyramid tombs.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
