The UN refugee agency-UNHCR has sent an alert for help after flooding not witnessed in 40 years in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state affected nearly 200,000 people who urgently need support.
“The inundated area, near Maban’s capital town of Bunj, is prone to flooding at this time of year because of heavy seasonal rains, but the situation has been getting worse because rainfall in neighboring Ethiopia is becoming more intense and irregular,”the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR’s Andrej Mahecic told journalists in Geneva.
Mr. Mahecic said that with the help of local partners and the authorities, UNHCR plans to reach the area, which shelters more than 150,000 refugees from Sudan.
UNHCR has pre-positioned emergency shelter kits and material assistance to help more than 5,000 affected families rebuild and repair damaged shelters, but says that more support is needed.
South Sudan hosts almost 300,000 refugees – mainly from Sudan’s Blue Nile and South Kordofan. An additional nearly 1.5 million are displaced inside the country.
