South Sudan: Floods - Jun 2019
Disaster description
Considerable flooding from 5th - 7th June 2019 triggered population movement and displacement in three (3) counties. The raging floods resulted to substantial destruction of houses, road networks and destroyed the livelihoods of 10,892 households according to the results of the Rapid Needs Assessment (RNA) conducted by South Sudan Red Cross (SSRC) in collaboration with the State department for Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC). As an in-depth needs’ assessment is being carried out to determine the level of the damages, according to the state Ministry of Agriculture, an estimated 100 fedans of crops have been destroyed with further hundreds of heads of cattle reportedly dead. (IFRC, 22 Jun 2019)
An estimated 46,000 people were displaced in Maiwut (33,000) and Tonj South (13,000). During August, seasonal floods have affected more than 364,600 people in different locations including more than 31,600 people in Akobo, Pibor and Uror counties in Jonglei, about 29,000 people in Aweil Centre County in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, about 4,000 people in Mayendit County in Unity and some 300,000 people in Gogrial West, Gogrial East and Tonj North counties in Warrap. The heavy rains have destroyed shelters, crops, water sources, public infrastructure like schools and health facilities, increased the risk of water-borne diseases among communities, and rendered many roads impassable, constraining access to affected areas. (OCHA, 27 Sep 2019)
Floods caused by torrential rains have worsened the living conditions of South Sudanese people in many parts of the country in the past few months. Some of the areas affected include Lafon, Torit and Kapoeta South counties in Eastern Equatoria; Ayod, Akobo, Bor South, Duk, Twic East, Pibor, Pochalla and Uror counties in Jonglei; Aweil Center and Aweil North in Northern Bahr el Ghazal; Abiemnhom, Mayom, Mayendit and Panyijiar in Unity; Maban in Upper Nile; and Gogrial East, Gogrial West and Tonj North in Warrap. (OCHA, 11 Oct 2019)
Unprecedented heavy flooding in South Sudan’s Maban County has affected nearly 200,000 people, including refugees and host population. (UNHCR, 18 Oct 2019)
Several days of torrential rains have left wide swaths of Greater Jonglei devastated and its inhabitants both flabbergasted and displaced. With more precipitation on the forecasted horizon, there are fears that the situation may deteriorate further. Nearly one million people in South Sudan have been affected, while the UN Children’s Fund, Unicef, say that some 490,000 of the victims are children (UNMISS, 29 Oct 2019.)
Response activities have been scaled-up across the affected locations where floods devastated the lives and livelihoods of some 908,000 people. As of 29 November, about 7,000 metric tons of food commodities have been distributed, reaching some 704,000 people with emergency food assistance. (OCHA, 4 Dec 2019.)
Floods that hit Torit and Lofan in Eastern Equatoria in early November destroyed 440 houses and affected 10,000 households. Humanitarian organizations continued assessing immediate needs in the flood-affected locations across South Sudan. In areas where flood waters remained high, particularly Maban County in Upper Nile and Pibor, Twic East and Duk counties in Jonglei, people faced challenges in accessing basic services. Most of the schools in Pibor and surrounding areas were either submerged or hosting displaced people. An estimated 74,000 hectares of cultivated land has been damaged by flooding in 2019, with a loss of some 72,600 metric tons of cereals.(OCHA, 18 Dec 2019.)
Response activities have been further scaled-up across the affected locations where floods devastated the lives and livelihoods of some 908,000 people. By the end of 2019, humanitarians had reached more than 789,000 people with over 10,300 metric tons of emergency food supplies and US$2.9 million in cash assistance. (OCHA, 13 Jan 2020)
By mid-February 2020, more than 975,000 people have been assisted with over 19,600 metric tons of emergency food supplies and US$4.8 million in cash assistance. In addition, about 1,000 metric tons of emergency flood response aid—emergency shelter and non-food items (NFI), and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health, protection and nutrition support—have been transported to prioritized flood-affected locations since November 2019. (OCHA, 18 Feb 2020)
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