Couple wade through floodwaters in Northern Bahr El Ghazal. | (Photo: Courtesy.)

Nearly seventy people died due to flood-related causes and hundreds of thousands are displaced in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State in two months, authorities said.

The state Relief and Rehabilitation Commission’s Coordinator Dut Majokdit said 38 people drowned as floods submerged their homes while 30 others died from venomous snake bites.

“We have 38 people who drowned in the flood and 4 others are missing. We also have 30 people who died after being bitten by snake,” Majokdit told Eye Radio on Friday.

RRC Coordinator further said the floods killed 524 livestock and destroyed 244,000 fedans of farmlands in five counties and two municipalities.

He added that a total of 809,472 individuals representing 77 percent of the total population, are now seeking shelter on the roads and other dry patches of land after losing their homes to floodwaters.

“The water level is too high and everywhere is flooded in the counties. Most of the people are now living on the road and other dry grounds.”

Last month, a boat evacuating stranded civilians capsized in Lol River of Northern Bahr El Ghazal, killing at least seven people are confirmed dead.

The state police spokesperson, Captain Guot Guot Akol said the victims were among 20 people crossing the Lol River to higher grounds in Aweil West County, after fleeing floods in Aweil North County.

The head of RRC Commission appealed to the national government to speed-up delivery of badly needed assistance.

“We urge our government in Juba to expedite the process of delivering the relief assistance so that our people are rescued before the situation worsen further, they are in a dire situation.”

This year’s flooding has also affected parts of Western Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, Upper Nile and Western Equatoria states.

Last week, President Kiir’s cabinet declared the affected locations as national disaster areas.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management allocated 16.7 million US dollars for the purchase of relief food to be distributed to the affected populations. Dozens of logistic companies have been contracted to undertake the exercise.