OCHA Situation Report No. 1
Sudan: Floods
30 August - 5 September 2008


Source:
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

SITUATION

Approximately 39,000 people were affected by flooding in Aweil East, South 
and Central Counties of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State. The floods due to 
heavy rains began with Aweil Town on 28 July 2008, where the Kuom River 
burst its banks after an inadequate bridge obstructed river flow. The 
localised flooding was worsened by poor drainage from a newly constructed 
road. An inter-agency assessment and the Southern Sudan Relief and 
Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) registered 5,292 households (38,891 
individuals) that were affected by the floods in Aweil. The most affected 
population were those living in low lying areas. According to IFRC, of the 
affected population, 70% are returnees and 30% had always been resident in 
the town. The displaced people moved to Maper Akot Aru along the Aweil - 
Aroyo road.

Since early August, humanitarian agencies have been responding to disease 
outbreaks like Acute Watery Diarrhoea (suspected Cholera) and malaria. 
Large quantities of non-food items (NFIs) including long lasting 
insecticide treated mosquito nets have been earmarked for the Aweil flood 
response.

More incidents of localized flooding have been reported in three more of 
the 10 Southern Sudan states namely; Unity State (Mayom, Abiemnom and Ler 
Counties), Upper Nile State (Nasir, Longochok, and Mabaan Counties), 
Warrap (Twic County) and Jonglei (Bor, Akobo and Pibor Counties). OCHA is 
supporting assessments and response planning in some of these areas. 
Specific numbers of affected people are yet to be established. Mid-August 
to end of September is the peak period for flooding in Sudan according to 
the GoS Early Warning Unit.

COORDINATION

- The Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit (OCHA, Oxfam GB and Medair) 
is continuously updating a Flood Situation and Response Monitoring Matrix 
with updated information on floods. You may request the full matrix from 
poole1@un.org.

- Resident Coordinator Supporting Office (UNRCO) and OCHA EP&R are 
supporting the flood response coordination. Coordination meetings have 
been set up as follows; (see attached full report)

LOGISTICS

- Agencies responding to the floods in Aweil are facing challenges in 
delivering and distributing relief supplies due to bad road conditions 
resulting from heavy rains. Most roads are impassable and some airstrips 
are not conducive for aircraft landing. Boats and helicopters are needed 
to reach some places. OCHA and partners continue to explore ways of 
improving logistics including the use of boats that were relied on during 
the National Census in April. These may be delivered to Aweil soon.

- INGO needs for logistics support are as follows; o World Vision in Aweil 
South need air transport for assessments in 24 areas affected by floods 
but not accessible by road. o Tearfund in Aweil South need air transport 
to access Ayai, Wathmouk and Gakrol areas, and o SRCS need boats to access 
Awiel West, particularly 12 villages in Nyamellel.

- The road from Wau to Aweil was opened on 23rd August and now vehicle are 
can pass without any problem.

INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE

Water and Sanitation

- UNICEF planned to drill four boreholes. Three have been completed in 
Maper Akot and two of them motorised.

- The Maintenance of boreholes in Aweil Town is going on under 
International Aid Service (IAS). So far have finished eight boreholes and 
planned to do maintenance of 25 boreholes in total with funding through 
UNICEF.

- MSF France has 15 chlorination points in Aweil Town. The target is 25 
chlorination points.

- Concern has trained four volunteers in Udum, Aweil West to do 
chlorination in the area. 2,000 tablets chlorine and 1,500 sachets of 
water purifiers were distributed. More chlorine is needed to curb the 
spread AWD in the area..

- The construction of public toilets in Aweil town by International 
Organization for Migration (IOM) is on. IOM is building three blocks with 
12 toilets each, which will provide a total of 36 toilets in Aweil The 
project is expected to be finished in one and half months.

Food Aid

- An inter-agency verification exercise was completed in Maper akot Aru, 
Aweil town. About 1,543 households (7,578 people) were registered and they 
received food. Up to 123 MT of food was distributed. Each beneficiary 
received a total 540 grams of food per day for one month. The 
distributions were done in line with daily rations as follows, 450 grams 
cereals, 50 grams pulses, 30 grams vegetable oil and 10 grams salt, 
equivalent to 2,100 kilocalories per person.

- In Aweil East, an interagency verification process was completed. The 
verification team comprised RCSO, WVI, RRR, IOM, IRC, WVI and UNOCHA. Up 
to 2,141 households (7,124 people) were registered for food aid from WFP.

Attachments:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docidiC07A7AE2AC2D0D492574BD002D44EB&file=Full_Report.pdf

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