Swelling waters have exploded through a dam, wiping out at least 20 villages and leaving at least 30 people dead in eastern Sudan, according to the United Nations report on Monday.
Heavy rains had caused floods that inundated the Arbaat Dam located only 40km (25 miles) north of Port Sudan on Sunday.
One of the first responder to the emergency had said that about 150 and 200 people were missing.
The emergency responder further said that he had seen the bodies of gold miners and fragments of their work equipment wrecked in the deluge, and likened the disaster to the devastation that happened in the eastern Libyan city of Derna in September 2023 when storm waters ruptured dams, swept away buildings and killed thousands of people.
The homes of about 50,000 people were impacted by the flooding, the United Nations said, citing local authorities, adding that the number only accounted for the area west of the dam as the area east was inaccessible.
The damaged dam had been the main source of water for Port Sudan —the home to the country’s main Red Sea port and working airport, and it is where the country’s much-needed aid deliveries is received the most.
The Sudanese Environmentalists Association had released a dire statement saying that “the city is now threatened with thirst in the upcoming days.”
In addition, the health ministry announced that some residents had abandoned their flooded homes and headed to the mountains where they were now stranded.
On Monday, the government’s rainy season task force recounted how 132 people had been killed in floods across the country — an increase from 68 two weeks ago.
So far, about 118,000 people have been displaced by the rains this year, according to a report by the United Nations agencies.
