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Reliefweb, 16th July 2007
GOAL volunteers are working round the clock in Sudan’s Kassala region after heavy torrential rainfall - some of the worst in years - caused 1,000 family homes to collapse, with further rains forecast.
While the exact scale of the disaster has not yet been determined, most predictions believe this flooding season will be worse than 2003 when the region experienced its worst flood on record.
As one of only two implementing agencies in the Kassala region, GOAL is distributing emergency kits to hundreds of affected families who lost all their meagre belongings in the flash floods. These kits contain essential items such as blankets, sleeping mats, jerry cans, cooking sets and pieces of plastic to use as emergency shelter, to help vulnerable communities through the next few days.
“Families are always the most vulnerable to such crises,” explained GOAL Kassala’s Emergency Coordinator, Conor Philips. “Their homes, built with mud and straw are destroyed every time the floods come, and rebuilding is never strong enough to withstand the waters when they rise again.”
Sixteen hours of devastating rainfall in the last two days has led to an increase in the level of the Al Gash River, which has already burst its bank in a few locations threatening Kassala town and its different localities. The GOAL team of volunteers are planning to distribute hundreds of sandbags to stem the flow of water near the West bank where the flooding is worst.
Poor sanitation is likely to deteriorate further with floods as flies and mosqitoes breed around the stagnant pools spreading disease in areas affected by the floods. GOAL has contingency stocks of chlorine tablets in stock to deal with contaminated water if required.
Ten of the local health clinics in the region that GOAL has rehabilitated and rebuilt in recent years are expected to go into emergency mode in the coming days – operating 20 hours a day and distributing free drugs to redress the looming possibility of outbreaks of water-borne diseases - a common phenomenon after floods.
With heavy rainfalls expected to fall for the next 6 days leading to further flooding, there is a risk that the main bridge connecting Kassala with Sudan’s capital Khartoum could be swept away - interrupting road communication with the capital and preventing relief assistance from reaching vulnerable communities on time.
GOAL continues to work with the United Nations on the ground to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable.
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