Flooding in Sudan
Story Highlights
# August 2007 saw torrential rains and severe flooding in Sudan
# The waters destroyed more than 12,000 homes and killed 12 people
# The German Red Cross and Sudanese Red Crescent are providing aid
Sudan (CNN) -- It is hot. So hot, that the mud on Faqeir Edris Faqeir's hands dries in less than a minute. As the old man rubs the palms of his hands together little bits of clay land in front of his feet. In the swamp where his house used to stand only one wall remains; the floods took the rest.
After the flooding there is a lack of fresh water for towns in Sudan.
It happened late one night back in August as Faqeir Edris Faqeir lay in his bedroom, listening to the water as it drummed angrily on the roof of his home.
It had been raining for hours.
Despite the torrential rains he was confident that the family home, surrounded by a wall, would be safe from the floods. That had always been the way in Kosti, every time the rains came. "The wall will hold, even if the water rises," the 70-year-old told himself.
When he woke up hours later, everything was already under water and the unmade road in front of his house had mutated into a raging stream. He and seven members of his family got out of the house, but could only stand by helplessly and watch as the walls collapsed. "I've never seen anything like it in any rainy season," says Faqeir Edris Faqeir quietly.
Over half a million people have been affected by the floods in Sudan, where water has swept homes, belongings and livelihoods away. In response to this humanitarian emergency the International Federation is currently appealing for 7,498,940 Swiss francs ($6,418,638) to assist 200,000 vulnerable people in the affected regions as they try to rebuild their shattered lives.
The statistics make grim reading for the people of Kosti. "We're mourning twelve dead, and 12,600 houses in Kosti have been damaged or destroyed," says Osama Osman, local director of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society. Lees hier het hele artikel
©CNN
# August 2007 saw torrential rains and severe flooding in Sudan
# The waters destroyed more than 12,000 homes and killed 12 people
# The German Red Cross and Sudanese Red Crescent are providing aid
Sudan (CNN) -- It is hot. So hot, that the mud on Faqeir Edris Faqeir's hands dries in less than a minute. As the old man rubs the palms of his hands together little bits of clay land in front of his feet. In the swamp where his house used to stand only one wall remains; the floods took the rest.
After the flooding there is a lack of fresh water for towns in Sudan.
It happened late one night back in August as Faqeir Edris Faqeir lay in his bedroom, listening to the water as it drummed angrily on the roof of his home.
It had been raining for hours.
Despite the torrential rains he was confident that the family home, surrounded by a wall, would be safe from the floods. That had always been the way in Kosti, every time the rains came. "The wall will hold, even if the water rises," the 70-year-old told himself.
When he woke up hours later, everything was already under water and the unmade road in front of his house had mutated into a raging stream. He and seven members of his family got out of the house, but could only stand by helplessly and watch as the walls collapsed. "I've never seen anything like it in any rainy season," says Faqeir Edris Faqeir quietly.
Over half a million people have been affected by the floods in Sudan, where water has swept homes, belongings and livelihoods away. In response to this humanitarian emergency the International Federation is currently appealing for 7,498,940 Swiss francs ($6,418,638) to assist 200,000 vulnerable people in the affected regions as they try to rebuild their shattered lives.
The statistics make grim reading for the people of Kosti. "We're mourning twelve dead, and 12,600 houses in Kosti have been damaged or destroyed," says Osama Osman, local director of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society. Lees hier het hele artikel
©CNN
Every cloud has a silver lining
