KHARTOUM, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Heavy rains continued to batter Kassala, the capital city of Kassala State in eastern Sudan on Friday, worsening the plight of thousands of displaced people residing in the city's shelter centers, as reported by local organizations.
The Kassala Youth Emergency Room, a local volunteer group, appealed in a statement to the authorities and residents in Kassala to provide water suction pumps and assist in draining rainwater from shelter centers.
It warned of a "catastrophic situation" in some centers, noting that the rainwater has completely flooded three of them, severely hindering access to food, medicine, and clean drinking water for the displaced individuals.
"The situation is truly catastrophic. The water volume is immense, and so far the young volunteers have failed to drain the water due to the lack of water suction pumps," an eyewitness told Xinhua.
The Nidaa Al-Wasat Initiative, a civil society organization, warned of the severe risks facing children, women, and the elderly, calling for the provision of relief aid to the displaced.
"The water flooded shelter centers housing displaced families, who became surrounded by water as the streets turned into rivers," the organization said.
Over the past week, Kassala State has been witnessing heavy rains that have destroyed about 1,470 homes in the Kassala locality and its suburbs, said Director General of Kassala State's Ministry of Agriculture Khidir Ramadan.
Flooding is a yearly occurrence in Sudan, typically happening between June and October. Over the past three years, heavy rains have claimed hundreds of lives and destroyed vast swathes of agricultural land.
This year's rainy season is bringing even more hardship to the people already caught in the deadly conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Data published by the UN International Organization for Migration in June showed that more than 7.7 million individuals had been internally displaced within Sudan since the conflict began, with approximately 2.2 million others seeking refuge in neighboring countries. ■