Following the death of at least 83 people and many others severely impacted, Save the Children has called for new funds to address the flood crisis in Sudan.

About 199,404 people have so far been affected, with local media reporting that some villages have submerged, and families are losing all their belongings.

The Sudanese government recently declared a state of emergency in six of the country’s 18 provinces, with Central Darfur, South Darfur, River Nile, and West Darfur among the worst affected areas.

Sudan is experiencing its fourth consecutive year of abnormally extensive floods with above-average rainfall causing deaths and partly or completely destroying nearly 44,000 homes.

The country is particularly vulnerable to impacts of the climate emergency, with extreme weather events over several decades eroding the its resilience in the face of shocks like floods and drought.

‘These are some of the worst floods we have seen in Sudan, and Sudan is no stranger to floods’, Save the Children’s Country Director in Sudan, Arshad Malik, said in a statement.

‘We are witnessing whole communities wiped out by rising waters, with families fleeing with just the cloths on their backs. We also [have not] seen the end of this disaster, rains are still falling and are expected to continue right through to September’.

Save the Children urged donors to recognise the severity of the flood crisis in Sudan and to release new funds to respond to the immediate needs of children and their families.

It is understood that the humanitarian response plan for Sudan is currently less than a third funded, leaving a desperate gap in health, shelter, and child protection.

Photo source: AP/Marwan Ali