Published here
The night of Wednesday July 31, 2013 in Alfath, a town northwest of the city of Omdurman, two children aged
four and two died instantaneously after the roof of their house fell in; leaving
their three brothers injured. When it rains in Alfath, parents have always put
their children’s beds in the yard or even on the streets and covered them with plastic
blankets in an attempt to keep them as far from falling walls as possible. A
father of three children said "We cannot risk our children’s lives; it's
better to keep them cold and wet rather than buried under debris." Another
3 kids were reportedly killed by electric shock on the evening of August 9 in the Gabra neighborhood of Khartoum.
Since the evening of August 1, 2013, Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, has witnessed heavy rainfall and harsh
floods. The rainfall came up to 32-56 mml, making it higher than it has been in
years and the damage even worse. The yearly rainy season, usually from the end of June
into the beginning of September, always leaves many people injured or dead, due to the collapse of houses and roads.
But these devastating effects of rainfall
and floods do not seem to have much impact on the Sudanese government.
Three days after the disaster, President Omar Elbashir flew to Tehran to
congratulate the newly elected Iranian president without making any
official
statement with regards to the floods. The Khartoum state
governor, in a TV interview, denied that this was a “disaster” calling
the situation a "crisis" instead, on the grounds that it was only a
disaster if half the total population was affected. Abdulgadir Hemmat,
head of the Khartoum Roads and Bridges Authority, meanwhile, admitted
that the sacloe of the destruction was due to houses poorly built out of
weak and
cheap materials. He also made a point of saying that the houses built
out of cement
blocks were not affected and by doing so made the residents of Khartoum
responsible for the damage they had incurred.
The Sudan Metrological Authority
website has apparently not been updated since 2012. They presented last year’s
forecast as this year’s, failing to predict heavy rainfall. On the other hand,
the website of the Ministry of Civil Defense was quick to report how a fire at
the US Embassy in Khartoum was handled last January 2013.
As of August 9, the death toll came to 53 persons
and the estimate of those affected by the floods exceeds 72,585 persons
in Sharq Elnil, Kararri, Umbadda and northern Khartoum. According to UN dispatch,
the Sudanese
government has put restrictions on the humanitarian assistance NGOs can
provide in
flood-affected areas. As a result of these restrictions as well as the
government’s reluctance in providing
assistance and managing the floods, a wave of popular unrest has emerged
in
Alfath, Umbadda and Sharq Alnil as well as on social media sites. The
protestors have demanded aid from the government, but the government has
responded violently by trying to disperse the protests with tear gas.
Nafeer, a community-based youth-led
initiative, was formed on Facebook on Friday, August 2, 2013. They
started operating from Gisr Centre’s headquarters, another youth led non-profit
organization, by assessing and responding to people’s needs in the affected
areas. They have been collecting donations, providing tents, plastic sheets, food,
clothes and medical assistance to all those affected. Almost 1200 volunteers
registered and joined Nafeer in its first week of operations. On August 5-6 alone they received 264 calls on their emergency
hotline. Local residents and the Sudanese diaspora have made cash donations
exceeding 400 thousand Sudanese pounds (approx. 57 000 USD).
Community-based initiatives like
Nafeer frequently emerge to bridge the gap between people’s needs and lack of government
services. Charitable initiatives, like Sadaggat and Shariee Alhawadith, have
been providing food and clothes as well as medical care for years. They offer
much-needed assistance and an ‘alternative’ to the official social welfare
system which does not exist.
However, Nafeer is different as they are offering ad
hoc solutions for an emergency situation that needs mass government and
national intervention. Although Nafeer aspires to offer assistance nationwide to
all those affected by the floods, their work is inevitably limited to the State of Khartoum
as it is difficult to access all the other areas. In North Darfur 2000 houses were
destroyed by rainfall on August 1, 2013 and 500 houses in Dereig
IDP camp in South Darfur was destroyed on July 17, 2013.
There hasn’t been any attempt at the
reconstruction of homes or shelter let alone psychosocial support for
the survivors; what is needed extends far beyond the immediate
assistance
provided. "It has been a horrible, unforgettable experience. My family
has lost everything, thanks to Allah we
are alive. Now, in just one week, I cannot imagine going back to
university. We've lost everything; I'm afraid the roads to downtown
Khartoum no longer function. Anyway I can't see myself ever resuming my
normal life"
said a flood survivor from Sharq Elnil on the eve of Alfitr day.
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