By Charles K Mark
Four people have died and over 300 houses have been destroyed by floods in Yei River County after three consecutive days of downpours, the County commissioner said.
Aggrey Cyrus Kanyikwa reported that the heavy rain has also killed several animals and destroyed, bridges and other property.
He said two of the people who were carried away were rescued, while the other two remain missing.
He said for the past 25 years, the county has never experienced such a downpour.
He told this outlet via phone from Yei that the major areas affected by the flash flood included Lomuku One and Two, the Kanjoro residential area, whose stream overflowed, as well as Hai Tasha.
“Four (4) people were washed away, out of which two could not be recovered, while foods, household belongings, and bridges were also washed away,” he reported.
Mr. Kanyikwa commended many who, he said, risked their lives to save children whose houses were submerged by water.
According to the commissioner, many residents were rescued from drowning in the floods as they were attempting to cross rivers that busted their banks due to the heavy downpour.
He, however, feared that the devastation must have affected more households than the ones he had earlier mentioned on his Facebook page.
The commissioner said the earlier estimates were statistics made based on an assessment done on Gigomoni and areas that were affected near the streams.
Mr. Kanyikwa said most displaced families are currently being accommodated by their neighbors who are on higher grounds, while others have shifted to their relatives in some other safer areas.
“We have not allocated a specific place for the IDPs yet. I think the only confirmation I received was calls from UNMISS trying to find out what exactly happened in the same way you have done it,” he told this outlet.
“So, we have experienced such occurrences. First of all, there was a delay in the rains, and rains have not been as normal as usual,” he noted.
Mr. Kanyikwa emphasized the need to fight climate change through positive practices such as protecting forests and the environment, promoting agroforestry, and promoting waste management systems that effectively consider the health of people and the environment.
Meanwhile, Peter Lomude Francis, a member of parliament representing Yei River County in the revitalized Transitional National Legislative Assembly, appealed for immediate humanitarian aid to be rendered to the affected population.
“So, I would like to seize this opportunity to make a humanitarian appeal that the partners should come to the rescue of the people, especially those who were displaced by the heavy downpour that happened on October 5 in Yei,” Lomude stated.
According to the ‘Weather Atlas,’ the climate in Yei, South Sudan, is solidly classified in the tropical wet and dry, or savanna zone, according to the Köppen climate classification.