Thousands of people have been forced to flee the rapidly rising floodwaters in Fangak County of Jonglei State, a local official said.
Panyikang County Commissioner Mustapha Gai Lual told Radio Tamazuj that the displaced were now sheltering in the Tonga area of Panyikang County of Upper Nile State.
Lual said 6,000 households from Fangak were sheltering in the Tonga area amid harsh humanitarian conditions.
He stressed that the conditions were dire, though some NGOs were providing some support to the affected people.
The Commissioner affirmed that the security situation was generally stable as there were unified forces deployed.
“We are going to nine months now without any security challenges and we thank God for that,” he said.
“On the side of health services, it is relatively fine because there is an NGO that provides medicines to people. The main challenge is in the education sector as we only have classes for P1 to P4 for the people who returned after the Sudan war,” he said.
The commissioner disclosed that only one school in the county offered P1 to P4 education.
According to reports, floods had affected more than 710,000 people across 30 of South Sudan’s 78 counties and the Abyei Administrative Area, worsening an already critical humanitarian situation marked by severe food insecurity, economic decline, continued conflict, disease outbreaks and the repercussions of the Sudan conflict.
Jonglei, Unity and Warrap states have reported the highest numbers of affected locations and populations. Since May, floods have caused extensive damage to homes, crops and critical infrastructure, disrupting education and health services and increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.