More than 571,989 people have been displaced by flash floods in Maiwut County of Upper Nile State, a lawmaker said on Tuesday.
National Legislative Assembly member for Maiwut County on SPLM ticket, Gatbel Reak Chuol, told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday that residents were displaced when heavy rains submerged their homes and destroyed crops, leaving them in dire need of humanitarian aid.
“Two days ago, the rain was too much in my home country. The rains and the flooding came from Ethiopia’s mountainous area,” Chuol said.
The legislator said the heavy rains, which lasted for three days since Saturday, have flooded 14 payams of Maiwut County, leaving the displaced victims without food and shelter.
He said their situation was dire, while appealing to the humanitarian partners for help.
“There is a need for medical respite there because the mosquitoes were now on the rampage. There will be severe malaria. We of course need temporary housing there and there is a need for mobilizing teams and resources from both the international and the national NGOs,” he said.
The country is expected to experience the worst floods following the rise in the water levels of the largest lake in the region, Lake Victoria, according to the Ministry of Water Resource and Irrigation.
Due to the rise in the water levels in Uganda’s Jinja dam, the neighboring country is expected to release 2,400 cubic meters per second, which is equivalent to 800 water tanks per second pouring downstream into South Sudan.
Already South Sudan’s most affected settlements of Jonglei, Lakes, Unity, Upper Nile, and Warrap were expected to experience unprecedented floods from around July.