On the road to Arbaat today NZT a Reuters reporter saw people burying a man and covering his grave with driftwood to try to prevent it from being washed away in mudslides.
The homes of about 50,000 people were impacted by the flooding, the United Nations said, citing local authorities, adding that the number only accounted for the area west of the dam as the area east was inaccessible.
The dam was the main source of water for Port Sudan, which is home to the country’s main Red Sea port and working airport, and receives most of the country’s much-needed aid deliveries.
“The city is threatened with thirst in the coming days,” the Sudanese Environmentalists Association said in a statement.
Officials said the dam had started crumbling and silt had been building during days of heavy rain that had come much earlier than usual.
Sudan’s dams, roads, and bridges were already in disrepair before the war between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023.
Both sides have since funnelled the bulk of their resources into the conflict, leaving infrastructure badly neglected.
Some people had fled their flooded homes and headed to the mountains where they were now stranded, the Health Ministry said.
The Government’s rainy season taskforce said 132 people had been killed in floods across the country, up from 68 two weeks ago. At least 118,000 people have been displaced by the rains this year, according to UN agencies.
The conflict in Sudan began when competition between the Army and the RSF, who had previously shared power after staging a coup, flared into open warfare.
The two sides had been seeking to protect their power and extensive economic interests as the international community promoted a plan for a transition towards civilian rule.
Overlapping efforts in pursuit of a ceasefire, including Saudi- and United States-led talks in Jeddah, have not eased the fighting and half of the 50 million population lack sufficient food.
