The commissioner of Pigi County in Jonglei State on Tuesday appealed for urgent humanitarian aid as floods continue to wreak havoc, displace people, and destroy livelihoods on a massive scale in the county.
Suliman Deng Thon told Radio Tamazuj that the floods have destroyed crops and displaced over 5,000.
“Over the past few days, we have been living in a terrible condition in the county, we have nearly 5,000 people affected by the floods and they have not received any support as we are still waiting,” he lamented. “We are very desperate for support and if there is any help for the affected people, we appeal for it.”
Commissioner Deng added: “We are living in a very dangerous situation, we are appealing to local and international NGOs and the people of Pigi that we need support because our crops have all been destroyed by the floods.”
He said the displaced people are now grappling with waterborne diseases, a malaria outbreak, and wild animals.
“Just two or three days ago, a child of about five years was eaten by an unknown animal,” the commissioner stated.
More than 800,000 people in 38 of South Sudan’s 78 counties, including the Abyei Administrative Area, have been affected by the flooding according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
South Sudan is facing unprecedented flooding, with forecasts predicting above-average rainfall, river flows from Uganda, and potentially record-breaking floods.
The joint flood preparedness and response plan, developed by the government, the UN, and other partners, aims to assist 2.4 million people. It also identified 20 high-risk counties across Warrap, Upper Nile, Unity, Jonglei/Greater Pibor Administrative Area, Lakes, Central Equatoria, and Northern Bahr el Ghazal states as priority areas for intervention.
Many of these areas are already grappling with the compounded impact of past floods, ongoing conflict, mass displacement, and acute food insecurity, further exacerbated by the ongoing crisis in neighboring Sudan