Sudan.. 64 missing due to the collapse of Arbaat Dam northwest of Port Sudan

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced that 64 people were missing due to the collapse of the Arbaat Dam in the Red Sea State, northwest of Port Sudan, eastern Sudan.

The Arbaat Dam collapsed last Sunday, threatening the fresh water supply to Port Sudan, which has become the country's de facto capital and a relative safe haven for the government, aid agencies and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Floodwaters caused by heavy rains that began earlier in the month have wreaked havoc across a country already torn apart by 500 days of heavy fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The natural disaster caused devastation even in areas largely spared by the fighting.

Local residents said people were trapped on high ground with no food and little hope of rescue. The United Nations says hundreds of thousands of families have been displaced in the northern state, which has also been largely unaffected by the fighting.

According to the World Food Programme, the rains have damaged camps for the displaced and delayed the arrival of vital aid to millions of people facing severe hunger in Darfur.

The United Nations estimates that more than 300,000 people in total have been affected by the floods, which have led to a second consecutive cholera outbreak. There were 1,351 cases reported as of Wednesday, which may be an undercount because the military-linked health ministry has difficulty accessing many areas occupied by the Rapid Support Forces.

The head of the early warning unit at the Sudanese Meteorological Authority, Abu Al-Qasim Musa, said that the unusually heavy rains that hit the desert areas were most likely caused by climate change. He added that the early warning unit had warned about them last May.

Rains usually fall in Sudan at the beginning of June and continue until October of each year.

This year's flood damage coincides with the ongoing suffering caused by a war waged by the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces since mid-April 2023, leaving about 18,800 dead and nearly 10 million displaced and refugees, according to the United Nations.

There have been increasing calls from the United Nations and international organizations to spare Sudan a humanitarian disaster that could push millions to famine and death due to food shortages due to the fighting that has spread to 12 of the 18 states.

(Reuters)