South Sudan’s Seasonal Flooding Turns into Annual Catastrophe, Displacing Thousands
South Sudanese Villages after the Floods, Photo: LNS24
December 23, 2024 Hour: 7:01 pm
South Sudan’s seasonal flooding, once a predictable aspect of life, has transformed into an annual catastrophe that displaces hundreds of thousands and plunges communities deeper into crisis. Families like that of Nyabuot Reat Kuor, a mother forced from her home in Gorwai, are bearing the brunt of this climate disaster.
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“When we were in Gorwai, there was too much flooding. It destroyed our farm and displaced us for good,” Nyabuot recounted. “We don’t know what caused this flooding, but it destroyed our land and killed our livestock. When we were displaced from our home, we only had wild plants to eat.”
Nyabuot now lives with her family along the Jonglei Canal, a century-old unfinished waterway that has become a lifeline for over 69,000 displaced people in Ayod County. Villagers rely on food assistance from the World Food Programme (WFP), as well as wild plants and water lilies from the swamp when aid runs out. According to the U.N. humanitarian agency, more than 379,000 people have been displaced by flooding this year alone. South Sudan is described by the World Bank as the world’s most vulnerable country to climate change and is poorly equipped to cope with such disasters.
Infrastructure Challenges and Aid Delivery
The infrastructure in South Sudan is crumbling, and years of civil war have left the government unable to effectively address crises like flooding, which continues to submerge villages, destroy farmland, and kill livestock. The displaced communities in Ayod County are almost entirely cut off from the outside world; roads are impassable and canals too shallow for boats carrying food. As a result, aid must arrive by air.
“We actually deliver food by airdrops,” explained John Kimemia, a WFP airdrop coordinator. “Before delivering, we have to prepare the ground for a drop zone. In this case, the area didn’t have a clear drop zone, so we have to get help from the community to clear it. There’s no access at this time by road or by boat from the canal.” Despite these efforts, resources are stretched thin; food aid rations have been halved in recent years due to dwindling international funding.
Survival Amid Isolation
The isolation faced by these communities exacerbates their challenges. In Pajiek village, Ayod’s county headquarters can only be reached by a six-hour walk through waist-high water. There is no mobile network coverage, no government presence, and no regular access to healthcare services. At the Paguong village health center—surrounded by flooded lands—medics haven’t been paid since June. Patients, mostly women and children, wait on the ground for treatment amid fears of venomous snakes in the area.
South Sudan’s economic situation has worsened further due to disruptions in oil exports caused by damage to pipelines in neighboring Sudan amid ongoing civil conflict. Civil servants across the country have gone unpaid for over a year.
Climate Change and Conflict Intertwined
The repeated flooding has been linked to various factors including upstream dam openings in Uganda and rising levels in Lake Victoria. South Sudan’s wetlands—the Sudd—have expanded dramatically since the 1960s, submerging more land and displacing more people. As conditions worsen, the unfinished Jonglei Canal—a colonial-era project intended to divert water northward to Egypt—has become a refuge for families seeking higher ground.
For displaced individuals like Nyabuot Reat Kuor, life remains precarious: “We survive on what we can find,” she said. “Wild plants, water lilies. We just want food and help to live.” The flooding in South Sudan represents not only a climate disaster but also a humanitarian emergency that exposes the fragility of a nation grappling with conflict, poverty, and climate vulnerability. For Nyabuot and thousands of others like her, survival hangs by a thread.
Autor: OSG
Fuente: EFE-Africanews
