Floods in Sudan Damage Thousands of Homes

A woman walks along a flooded street in Khartoum after torrential rain fell on the Sudanese capital, almost paralising traffic, on August 8, 2021. (File/AFP)
A woman walks along a flooded street in Khartoum after torrential rain fell on the Sudanese capital, almost paralising traffic, on August 8, 2021. (File/AFP)
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Floods in Sudan Damage Thousands of Homes

A woman walks along a flooded street in Khartoum after torrential rain fell on the Sudanese capital, almost paralising traffic, on August 8, 2021. (File/AFP)
A woman walks along a flooded street in Khartoum after torrential rain fell on the Sudanese capital, almost paralising traffic, on August 8, 2021. (File/AFP)

Thousands of homes have been damaged in Sudan after torrential rains caused heavy flooding, with many streets in the capital Khartoum deep in water, AFP correspondents said Sunday.

Heavy rains usually fall in Sudan from June to October, and the country faces severe flooding every year, wrecking properties, infrastructure, and crops.

In Atbara, a city in Sudan’s north-east, the official news agency SUNA reported that a number of houses had “collapsed” due to the heavy rains.

On Thursday, the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA said some 12,000 people in eight out of the country’s 18 states had been affected.

“Over 800 homes have reportedly been destroyed and over 4,400 homes damaged,” the UN said.

Last year, heavy rains forced Sudan to declare a three-month state of emergency, after flooding affected at least 650,000 people, with over 110,000 homes damaged or destroyed.

In 2020, the Blue Nile — which joins the White Nile in the Sudanese capital Khartoum — floodwater swelled the river to its highest level since records began over a century ago.



UN Chief Says Israeli Strikes in Yemen, Including at Airport, are Alarming

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a joint statement with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro (not pictured), in Sao Bento Palace, Lisbon, Portugal, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File Photo
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a joint statement with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro (not pictured), in Sao Bento Palace, Lisbon, Portugal, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File Photo
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UN Chief Says Israeli Strikes in Yemen, Including at Airport, are Alarming

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a joint statement with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro (not pictured), in Sao Bento Palace, Lisbon, Portugal, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File Photo
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a joint statement with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro (not pictured), in Sao Bento Palace, Lisbon, Portugal, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File Photo

The spokesperson of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday condemned escalations between Israel and Yemen, saying Israel's airstrikes on Yemen's Sanaa International Airport, the Red Sea ports and power stations were alarming, Reuters reported.

Israel said it struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen on Thursday, including Sanaa International Airport, and Houthi media said at least six people were killed.

"Israeli airstrikes today on Sanaa International Airport, the Red Sea ports and power stations in Yemen are especially alarming," the UN chief's spokesperson said in a press briefing while expressing concerns about the risk of further regional escalation.