Rising floodwaters have forced tens of thousands of people in South Sudan to leave their wrecked homes as overflowing rivers deluge farmland and swallow up livestock.
Barely 16 kilometres from the capital Juba, the devastation is apparent, with locals surrounded by water as they try to feed their children and find a safe place to sleep.
Kworjik official James Subek Pitia said that at least 9,000 locals were affected by the floods there. That is a fraction of the 426,000 people reeling from the disaster across the world’s youngest country, according to the UN’s emergency response agency.
Kworjik official James Subek Pitia said that at least 9,000 locals were affected by the floods there. That is a fraction of the 426,000 people reeling from the disaster across the world’s youngest country, according to the UN’s emergency response agency.
Emergency workers have used canoes and boats to reach cut-off populations, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a briefing note last week, warning that more heavy rains and flooding were expected in the coming months.
Some families fled Kworjik for Juba, local resident Albert Alsayo Laku told AFP, while others have taken shelter in churches and in a handful of tall under-construction buildings that managed to withstand the deluge.
Source: AFP News
