And it gets worse.
Death Toll
Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that at least 50 people have died in Sudan because of severe seasonal flooding, and the worst may not yet be over.
The water has also damaged at least 8,170 homes, and the business pub reported that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said around 38,000 people in the East African country have been affected since May. Around 25 people have been injured this year, as well.
As heartbreaking as the situation is, further completion of an infrastructure project downstream may rub more salt in the wound.
Dam It All
In 2021, Reuters reported that South Sudan’s record-breaking floods were caused by climate change. The outlet said around 700,000 people were affected by rushing waters that year.
Now, it seems as if Sudan will need to battle an additional obstacle if it hopes to help its people survive a warming climate.
On Friday, Reuters reported that Ethiopia, Sudan’s southeastern neighbor, is inching toward completion of its Blue Nile dam project called the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Reuters says people in Egypt and Sudan are worried about the potential flooding the dam will cause, and it’s an alarm bell that’s been ringing for a while. Last year, Turkish-state-run media outlet Anadolu Agency said 50 people died in flooding GERD created when its second filling was completed.
Now that the third filling is done, how many more Sudanese communities will suffer from worsening floods, and how long can they hold on?
More on deadly flooding: Strip Mining Made KY Flooding Worse, Experts Say