After ‘Doomsday’ Floods, Sudanese Fear Worse to Come

Over 30,000 houses have been damaged in floods in Sudan: this home is in the village of Makaylab in River Nile state - AFP
Over 30,000 houses have been damaged in floods in Sudan: this home is in the village of Makaylab in River Nile state - AFP
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After ‘Doomsday’ Floods, Sudanese Fear Worse to Come

Over 30,000 houses have been damaged in floods in Sudan: this home is in the village of Makaylab in River Nile state - AFP
Over 30,000 houses have been damaged in floods in Sudan: this home is in the village of Makaylab in River Nile state - AFP

In the Sudanese village of Makaylab, Mohamed Tigani picked through the pile of rubble that was once his mud-brick home, after torrential rains sparked heavy floods that swept it away.

"It was like doomsday," said Tigani, 53, from Makaylab in Sudan's River Nile state, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital Khartoum.

"We have not seen rains and floods like that in this area for years," he said, scouring for anything to help build a shelter for his pregnant wife and child.

In Sudan, heavy rains usually fall between May and October, and the country faces severe flooding every year, wrecking property, infrastructure and crops.

This year, floods have killed at least 79 people and left thousands homeless, according to official figures.

On Sunday, Sudan declared a state of emergency due to floods in six states, including River Nile.

The crisis comes as Sudan reels from deepening political unrest and a spiralling economic crisis exacerbated by last year's military coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Almost a quarter of Sudan's population -- 11.7 million people -- need food aid.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing government figures, estimates over 146,000 people have been affected by flooding this year, with 31,500 homes damaged or destroyed.

But the UN warns that with more than a month of rain still expected, flooding could affect up to 460,000 people this year -- far higher than the average 388,600 people affected between 2017 and 2021.

"Compared to the same period of 2021, the number of affected people and localities this year has doubled," OCHA said Monday.

The flooding is not just along the Nile River, with the war-ravaged western region of Darfur the hardest hit, where over 90,000 people are affected.

Since the start of the devastating rainy season, thousands of Sudanese families have been left homeless, sheltering under tattered sacking.

"Everything is totally destroyed," said Haidar Abdelrahman, sitting in the ruins of his home at Makaylab.

OCHA warns that "swollen rivers and pools of standing water increase the risk of water-borne disease such as cholera, acute watery diarrhoea, and malaria".

Abdelrahman said he fears the floodwaters have also forced scorpions and snakes to move. "People are scared," he said.

"People are in serious need of basic aid against insects and mosquitoes," said Seifeddine Soliman, 62, from Makaylab.

But health ministry official Yasser Hashem said the situation is "so far under control" with "spraying campaigns to prevent mosquitoes".

Out of around 3,000 residents in Makaylab, they had been receiving about six or seven cases daily, mainly diarrhoea, he said.

Upstream, on the White Nile, neighboring South Sudan has seen record rainfalls and overflowing rivers in recent years, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, with the UN saying the "extraordinary flooding" was linked to the effects of climate change.

The floods on the Nile in Sudan also come despite Ethiopia's controversial construction upstream across the Blue Nile of a 145-metre (475-foot) tall hydroelectric dam.

Some experts, such as the US-based research and campaign group International Rivers, have warned that changing weather patterns due to climate change could result in irregular episodes of flooding and drought in the Nile drainage basin, the world's longest river.

In Makaylab, many fear the devastating floods are only the beginning.

"The rainy season is just starting," said Abdelrahman. "And there is no place for people to go."



Lebanese President Faces Domestic, Foreign Challenges

Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun poses for a picture with his family at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, January 9, 2025. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun poses for a picture with his family at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, January 9, 2025. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
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Lebanese President Faces Domestic, Foreign Challenges

Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun poses for a picture with his family at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, January 9, 2025. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun poses for a picture with his family at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, January 9, 2025. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

The election of a new president in Lebanon does not mean the country has come out of the economic and political crises which have gutted it for years. Yet Thursday’s vote marks the beginning of a new phase that carries many challenges for the president and the upcoming government.

It is Joseph Aoun’s responsibility now to appoint a prime minister following binding parliamentary consultations and then form the Cabinet together with the PM.

According to observers, Aoun’s term should carry a roadmap to salvage the country, and a clear plan to address crises and domestic and foreign challenges.

However, there is no magic wand to solve Lebanon’s entire crises.

Instead, Aoun needs a unified working team that should draft a clear ministerial statement that reflects the President’s inaugural speech and his pledge of a “new era” for Lebanon.

“The president's speech constitutes a detailed program for governance. However, his program needs a cabinet capable of implementing it,” former Minister Ibrahim Najjar told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Najjar described the new President as an honest, clean and courageous Lebanese man.

“His election must be followed by the formation of a bold cabinet with new faces, capable of working and making achievements,” he said.

“The Lebanese people expect President Aoun to change the quota-based mentality of politicians. They hope his term will help remove old political figures, who are rooted in the Lebanese quagmire,” the former minister noted.

Former MP Fares Souaid told Asharq Al-Awsat that Aoun’s first task is to implement the Constitution and the National Accord document.

“In the early 1990s, the Constitution was no longer being implemented due to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. In 2005, the Constitution was again ignored because of Iranian arms.”

Therefore, Soueid said, the Lebanese eagerly expect this new era to constitute a real opportunity for the implementation of both documents.

For years, Lebanon has failed to properly implement its Constitution and UN resolutions, mainly because some political parties had considered their implementation as “a target against their so-called resistance.”

“With the election of President Joseph Aoun, Lebanon has opened a blank page that could meet the aspirations of the Lebanese people, and write a new chapter in the country’s history,” Najjar said.

According to Soueid, Aoun has a task to return Lebanon to its Arab identity. “This is slowly beginning to show through the decline of Iranian influence in the region,” he said.

Also, Soueid said, the new President should mend Lebanon’s relations with the international community by implementing all UN resolutions.

Addressing Parliament and Lebanese people with an acceptance speech, Aoun on Thursday vowed that the Lebanese authorities will have the monopoly on arms and will be committed to a strong state that will extend its sovereignty over the entire territory.

“This is in line with UN resolutions, which if implemented, will bring Lebanon back to the Arab and international scene,” Soueid said.