War-torn Sudan battered by torrential rains.

Heavy rains damage more than 500 houses in the country’s north as the army and paramilitary forces engage in a bloody battle.
Sudan floods
A man holds salvaged items as he stands in a flooded area in al-Sagai, north of Omdurman.

Torrential rains in the past couple of days have damaged more than 500 homes across Sudan’s north and areas north of Omdurman city, state media reported on Monday, validating concerns voiced by aid groups that the wet season would compound the war-torn country’s woes.

Changing weather patterns saw Sudan’s Northern State battered by heavy rain, damaging at least 464 houses, the state-run SUNA news agency said, adding that at least 300 houses were damaged in Merowe city alone, about 330 kilometres (210 miles) from the capital, Khartoum.

Al-Sagai, about 40km north of Omdurman, was inundated with water and dozens of houses collapsed and agricultural plantings were submerged in the wake of the rains.

SUNA described the vast region bordering Egypt and Libya as “a desert area that rarely received rain in the past, but has been witnessing devastating rains for the past five years”.

The tragedy comes nearly four months into a brutal war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that has decimated infrastructure and plunged millions into hunger.

Medics and aid groups have for months warned that Sudan’s rainy season, which began in June, could spell disaster for millions more, increasing the risk of malnutrition, vector-borne diseases and displacement across the country.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), outbreaks of cholera and measles have already been reported in parts of the country that have been nearly impossible for relief missions to access.

More than 80 percent of Sudan’s hospitals are no longer in service, the WHO said, while the few health facilities that remain often come under fire and struggle to provide care.

The conflict, which erupted in the capital, Khartoum, on April 15, has displaced more than three million people internally with many in urgent need of aid, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Nearly a million others have fled across borders seeking safety, it said.

Aid groups repeatedly complain of security challenges, bureaucratic hurdles and targeted attacks that prevent them from delivering much-needed assistance.

sudan floods
People ride in a boat in a flooded area in al-Sagai, north of Omdurman.

Floodwaters surround houses, many of them badly damaged, in a village near the city of Meroe
Floodwaters surround houses, many of them badly damaged, in a village near the city of Merowe on Monday, August 7, 2023. Hundreds of homes were damaged in the north of the country by heavy seasonal rains over recent days, Sudan’s state news agency SUNA reported.

sudan floods
Men push people riding in a boat in a flooded area in al-Sagai.

sudan floods
A boy stands by a destroyed house in the aftermath of a flood in al-Sagai.

sudan floods
An area devastated by floods in al-Sagai.

sudan floods
People sit outdoors on salvaged furniture. The devastating floods come nearly four months into a brutal war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

sudan floods
People walk through a flooded area in al-Sagai.

sudan floods
A woman sits outdoors on a salvaged bed in an area devastated by floods in al-Sagai. Medics and aid groups have warned that Sudan’s rainy season could spell disaster for millions, increasing the risk of malnutrition, vector-borne diseases and displacement across the country.

sudan floods
A man walks through a flooded area in al-Sagai.

Floodwaters surround houses, many of them badly damaged, in a village near the city of Meroe.

Floodwaters surround houses, many of them badly damaged, in a village near the city of Merowe.

By Richard Koomson| mediacentralonline.info |Ghana
kindly send us your stories on our WhatsApp line 0500004727