ReliefWeb

The year 2021 marks the third consecutive year of torrential rains in South Sudan, affecting over 800,000i people across eight states, and destroying livelihoods, homes and health facilities, and displacing hundreds and thousands of families. According to a report released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on behalf of the InterCluster Coordination Group (ICCG), estimated that 426,000 people were affected and displaced by floods in South Sudan since May 2021, and that the states of Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile were the worst impacted. Jonglei is the hardest hit, followed by Unity and Upper Nile. According to the UNOCHA, early seasonal rains resulted in the overflowing of the rivers Nile, Lol, and Sobat, as well as the wetlands, causing unprecedented flooding in vast areas of land and settlements, making present and future rains detrimental to the communities living in these areas. As a result, many people affected by the floods moved to higher ground within their county, and planned on returning home once the flood waters recede. However, the reality is that some of those currently displaced, are those who were affected by the 2020 floods, rendering them no opportunity to return home. The floods collapsed the livelihood options of the community with farmlands being submerged by water, and leaving health facilities, schools and other institutions abandoned. Access within the payams, from village to another village became difficult due to flooding.

Maiwut County, Upper Nile

In July 2021, the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) held a meeting chaired by the Maiwut county RRC Coordinator, to discuss the impact of floods on returnees and internally displaced peoples (IDPs) settlement sites. Maiwut is unique in that the displaced population are a mix of returnees from Gambela in Ethiopia, and those impacted by the floods as well as conflict in the region.

Mayendit County, Unity State

In August 2021, the Mayendit County authority in Unity State, disseminated a press release requesting humanitarian assistance be provided to an estimated 24,000 people affected by floods. The County Commissioner further asked humanitarian partners to evacuate the flood affected population from the Southern part of the county to the North. Unity State, the second worse flood affected in the country, comprises of Mayom, Leer, Panyijiar, Mayendit, Rubkona and Guit counties that were affected by the floods respectively in the order of displaced population.