Egypt stands in support of the Sudanese government and people against the repercussions of torrential rains and floods that swept a number of Sudanese states, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Saturday. Rising floodwaters hit swaths of Sudan in recent days as weeks of heavy flooding nationwide left dozens of people dead and destroyed tens of thousands of homes.
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi expressed support to Sudan after flash floods had damaged parts of the country.
“I express my sincere solidarity with the brotherly Sudanese government and people amid the heavy rains and flash floods that have ravaged their country, causing devastation and tragic loss of life,” El-Sisi tweeted.
On Saturday, Sudan's Security and Defence Council declared a national state of emergency for three months because of floods that have killed 99 people this year and designated Sudan a natural disaster zone, state news agency SUNA said.
Lena Al-Sheikh, Sudan's minister of labour and social development, said floods this year have injured 46 people, inflicted damage on more than half a million people and caused the total and partial collapse of more than 100,000 homes, according to SUNA.
The levels of floods and rain this year have exceeded the records set in 1946 and 1988, with expectations of continued rising indicators, Al-Sheikh added.
Sudan's interior ministry said last week that flash floods have ravaged swaths of Sudan including the capital since late July, injuring around four dozen people and damaging or destroying 57,000 houses nationwide.
El-Sisi affirmed Egypt's readiness to provide all means of support to Sudan. “I pray to Allah Almighty to heal the wounded and grant the families of the victims in Sudan patience and solace,” he said.
The Egyptian foreign ministry added that “while Egypt expresses its sincere condolences to the victims of the floods that swept through brotherly Sudan, it affirms its readiness to coordinate with its brothers in Sudan necessary humanitarian relief efforts to face the repercussions of the floods.”
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the majority of the affected families were forced to seek shelter with relatives and host communities.
Sudan's floods damaged at least 43 schools and 2,671 health facilities across the country, the UN agency said. Over 2,000 water sources have been contaminated or are now non-functional, it added.
On Sunday, Sudan's Tuti Island, where the Blue and White Nile meet, witnessed the highest river water levels it has ever recorded, while on 27 August Sudan's irrigation ministry said that Khartoum's Nilometer has registered the highest level in the ministry's records in the past 100 years.
