Sudan floods intensify with the climate crisis
“On the island, we are used to putting barricades against the Niles during the flooding season but it never felt life-threatening. This year, by the start of August, we started monitoring the Nile levels on the eastern and western sides. We thought it would be just like every year and we didn’t worry much about it,”
said Khedira, a 22-year-old Sudanese man who lives in Tuti Island, one of the most affected areas by the recent floods in Sudan.
Floods are not a new thing to Sudan, it happens almost every year. But due to climate change, these floods are getting more intense and the local capacity to respond remains the same if not less.
This year’s floods started in July, the continuous rising floodwaters and heavy rainfall killed around 100 people and inundated over 100 thousand houses which eventually forced the Sudanese authorities to impose a three-month state of emergency across the country.
A timeline for the floodings in Tuti
Early August: Things are changing
“We are used to seeing the water close to our lands but this time it continued to rise, this is when we started to get nervous and scared. A couple of days later it broke the barricades on the eastern side on the Island and the water was heading towards the houses on that side”
Mid-August: Unexpected developments
“The situation started to get worse, the water has started to inundate the houses on the eastern side. We [Island’s residents] immediately went there and tried to slow it down but we didn’t have barricades.”
Khider told us that the young men couldn’t just wait there and watch the water take over the area so they decided to lay down and form a human barricade while waiting for the government’s support to arrive.
September: Real damage
“Lots of houses were destroyed and people had to evacuate, the barricades are getting weaker, I’m not sure if it will be able to hold any longer. I have never seen people this scared. I’m lucky that I live on the eastern side and my house is far away, for now, but the situation is devastating”
