Severe floods have hit Pochalla County in Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA), leaving residents homeless and without food.
Several residents who spoke to Radio Tamazuj Tuesday said their homes have been submerged in floodwaters after the Akobo River burst its banks last week.
One Pochalla resident, Rebecca Akway Obang, said there is no dry ground left after Monday night’s heavy downpour.
“The floods have been there for a week now but it worsened last (Monday) night after heavy rains which lasted five hours,” she said. “There is no place to cook and I do not even know where to relocate with my children because every village is flooded.”
Cham Pwoc, another resident, said she relocated her family to a church compound.
“The floodwaters are coming from the river and the rains. I was shocked to wake up to the sight of my only house left submerged this morning,” she lamented. “So, I had to relocate to a church with my children because even finding a place to prepare meals is difficult.”
Pwoc warned that that the already dire humanitarian situation could worsen because farms have been taken over by inundations.
For his part, Patrick Owar Gora, said the whole area is flooded.
“Everywhere is flooded,” he said. “In the morning my wife had to relocate a neighbor’s house to cook but even now that place is also flooded so I am planning to move to the military barracks because it is the only dry place in Pochalla town.”
Meanwhile, Owety Olung, the acting Pochalla County commissioner, called on aid agencies to come to their support saying the floods are too severe for them to tackle.
“In Pochalla town, the only place left dry is the military barracks. All areas of Greater Pochalla like Okadi, Ojangbaay, Adongol, and Obuodi are severely flooded and even over the weekend a woman was swept away by the floods in Okadi,” he said. “In Pochalla town, we estimate 3,000 homes to have been destroyed. We cannot give figures for other payams because we are unable to go out.”