Sudan Declares State of Emergency After Severe Floods

78 people were killed by the torrential floods in Sudan (AP Photo)

September 4, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan declared a three-month national state of emergency in response to huge floods that killed 99 people.

The emergency proclamation was decided in a meeting of the Security and Defence Council chaired by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council On Friday evening.

A statement released by the Sovereign Council after the meeting reported that the floods affected 16 states across the country where 99 people killed and 46 others wounded.

Further, the heavy rainfalls "inflicted damage on more than half a million people and caused the total and partial collapse of more than 100,000 homes," said the statement.

Sudan’s Minister of Labour and Social Development Lina al-Sheikh stated that the peak flows registered during this year have exceeded the records set during the years 1988-1946.

The Security and Defence Council decided to form a higher committee to address the effects of floods.

The committee will be headed by the minister of social development and include all concerned ministries and states to coordinate their action and use the available local resources as well as foreign aid.