Floods in Bor Town, Jonglei, South Sudan, August 2020. | Photo: UNHCR

The Minister of Information in Jonglei State has warned of increasingly alarming flood situation in Bor County following heavy downpour this week.

John Samuel Manyuon told Eye Radio, several households have been submerged within the town.

Manyuon however, could not give us the exact number of homes affected.

But he said, the most affected areas include; Langbaar, Marol market, Block 1 and 2, and Machuar among others.

John blames the flooding on poor drainage system and lack of good roads in the town.

“The area is flooded, and the flooding happened because of yesterday’s heavy rains that rained nearly the whole day, and the situation is really alarming within the entire town. So, basically we still don’t have a proper drainage system in the town,” Manyuon said.

Minister Manyuon the state government has taken some flood mitigation measures including building a few dykes and drainage systems around Bor.

“We’re trying our level best, and we already have a dyke existing alongside the Nile to the west side of the town. This will prevent the overflow of the river water once the rain intensifies. The state is also working on the drainage system within the town,” he said.

Jonglei State has been one of the hardest hit areas by the three years of flooding, which has led to the collapse of livelihood and displacement of thousands of people.

The state official said the government is optimistic over the minimum preparation and response, adding that the magnitude of the flood will not be like in the previous years.

“We are also doing this with the help of generator. Sometimes when we see the level of water is up, we use it to pump out water. The state is at work and we see the effect of the flood this year might not be as previous years,” said Manyuon.

Last year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said nearly a million people were affected by floods in 27 counties across South Sudan.

The agency stated that Jonglei and Unity were the most affected states accounting for 58 percent of people affected by floods in the country.