Rehabilitation after the floods in Sudan

Adam Hinton

On 28th July 2003 heavy rains hit the Plan Sudan Programme Unit of Kassala and caused the already-swollen Rivers Gash and Atbara to burst their banks, resulting in severe flooding.

Thousands of people were directly affected, many loosing their homes and livelihoods. Schools, hospitals and health centres were damaged and people were at risk of developing water-borne diseases such as cholera, dysentery and malaria, as water and sanitation infrastructure was destroyed. Roads and transport systems were also severely damaged, isolating large sections of the population.

Plan responded promptly and coordinated the distribution of shelter, food and safe water to communities. 

By December 2003 the flood waters had subsided. Since then Plan has been working to restore services that had been damaged or destroyed by the flooding such as schools, health centres and water and sanitation systems.

Efforts and funds are now focused on ensuring that the people who have survived the disaster are able to make a sustainable recovery.

Rehabilitation activities are on-going and will continue for some time. The implementation of these activities is integrated with other Plan activities in the Programme Unit.