Steep rise in Nile; more floods loom

Press, 16 August 1988, Page 10

Steep rise in Nile; more floods loom

NZPA-Reuter Khartoum The swollen waters of the River Nile crept towards the record 1946 level yesterday, threatening Sudan with its worst flood this century. The Finance Minister, Omar Nour al-Dayem, said the flooded Nile posed a serious danger from the central region to the Egyptian border and had already made nearly two million homeless.

The Irrigation Minister, Mahmoud Beshir Gamaa, told Reuters on Saturday night that the river had risen 14cm since Friday, bringing its level to 16.21 m. That was some 79cm less than the peak of Sudan’s worst floods in living memory 42 years ago.

“The period between August 20 and the first week of September is crucial. Once that is over, Sudan will be safe,” Mr Gamaa said. The official toll so far has been put at 58 dead and more than 200 injured in Khartoum, the capital city of four million. In the south the White and Blue Niles, fed by heavy rain in their headwaters, have inundated large sections of low-lying land, leaving only treetops visible. The two tributaries meet in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman for the downstream journey north

through Egypt to the Mediterranean. People living on the banks of the rivers say they are marking the water level daily in case they have to evacuate. In some areas lookouts are keeping a round-the-clock vigil. The* Atbara river in

northern Sudan and the Al-Qash rivers in the east have already burst their banks causing extensive damage . in surrounding areas.

Sudan, its 23 million population ranking among the world’s poorest, has appealed for international help. >«•

The most generous response has come from Saudi Arabia. King Fahd personally donated 30 million riyals (SNZII.B4 million) in addition to running an airlift of supplies.

Mr Nour al-Dayem, head of an emergency committee set up to tackle the flood disaster, told a news conference that 85 planeloads of relief aid had so far arrived — 35 of them from Saudi Arabia. He said 1200 tonnes of relief supplies had been sent, mostly tents and blankets.

Khartoum newspapers said Saudi Arabia had agreed to deliver relief supplies directly to floodhit areas of the north, where they said at least 32 villages were inundated by torrential rains on Friday. Islands in the Nile had been submerged and thousands of houses destroyed, the papers said.

Authorities in Khartoum raised their estimate of the number of homes destroyed in the capital by 30,000 to 114,000. Many parts of the city remained without electricity or water and the few buses running were crammed beyond capacity with passengers clinging to the roofs.

Residents repeated complaints of food shortages and price increases for basic food items. Long queues formed outside bakeries.