This archive report was first published on 27 August 2019.
Published on August 27, 2019, a devastating flood from the Nile River has ravaged Sudan, leaving thousands of homes destroyed and nearly 200,000 people affected.
Alsediq Abdelqader, a 57-year-old resident of Wad Ramli village, was among those who lost their homes. He navigated his truck through the waters in a desperate attempt to locate his small house north of the Sudanese capital.
"My entire home is destroyed," said Abdelqader. "I have lived all my life in this village and I have never seen a flood like this before."
According to the official SUNA news agency, the worst-hit area was White Nile state in the south, where 62 people were killed and nearly 100 injured. The crisis has affected at least 15 states across Sudan.
Volunteers and aid workers rushed to Wad Ramli when the savage floods hit, dispatching lorries and boats to rescue families and salvage their furniture and valuables. However, Abdelqader was among the less fortunate, unable to find his belongings.
"I have not managed to recover any of my furniture or belongings. My family is now staying with relatives in a nearby village," said Abdelqader.
As the crisis continues, residents of nearby villages are bracing themselves for water levels to keep rising. In Wawesi Gharb village, 35-year-old farmer Sami Ali says he is running out of ways to roll back the water threat.
"We placed piles of sandbags around houses to reduce the damage in case we were flooded especially after the water surrounded our village from all sides," he said.
Mobile health clinics were set up outside the village to serve Wad Ramli, but aid workers say medicine and food are in short supply. Hundreds of villagers are pondering ways to return to their lives, with some planning to rebuild their homes once the water recedes.
