CAIRO (AP) – The death toll from flash floods in Sudan since the start of the country’s rainy season in May has climbed to at least 89, an official said on Tuesday, as the downpours continued to inundate villages across the east African nation.
Brigadier General Abdul-Jalil Abdul-Rahim, spokesman for Sudan’s National Council for Civil Defense, said that at least 36 people have been injured since May.
Around 20,000 houses have been “completely destroyed” across the country and more than 30,000 partly damaged.
The United Nations (UN) said more than 146,200 people have been affected by floods.
Footage aired by local media shows rising waters submerging villages. Authorities have declared a state of emergency in six of the country’s 18 provinces.
The western Darfur region and the provinces of Nile River, White Nile, West Kordofan and South Kordofan are among the hardest hit, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA.
UN agencies suffer from significant funding shortages.
