Floods in Sudan kill 63 since July: interior ministry

Sudan on Sunday said floods caused by torrential rains have killed 63 people since July, with thousands more forced from their homes by the seasonal storms.

Over 14,000 homes and 119 public buildings were destroyed, while more than 16,000 homes have been badly damaged, government civil defence organisations calculate, according to a statement from the interior ministry.

Heavy rains usually fall in Sudan from June to October, and Sudan faces severe flooding every year.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that over 185,000 people have been affected by the floods, with more rainfall expected in the months ahead.

The rains have caused flooding, landslides and damage to houses and infrastructure in 17 of the 18 states across the country, OCHA said.

"Humanitarian needs are rapidly increasing in Sudan, as the country faces multiple shocks, including the economic crisis, recent floods, violence and disease outbreaks," OCHA said Sunday.

The two most affected states are Gezira and Kassala, in the east of the North African country.

Who let the dogs out? China firefighters rescue mutts caught in flood
Beijing (AFP) Aug 17, 2020 - Firefighters in lifejackets waded through chest-high water to rescue around 20 dogs trapped at a pet hospital in southwest China's Sichuan province as heavy rain and flooding doused the region.

Hospital employees and their canine wards were trapped in the clinic in Chengdu city Sunday after water rose up to the building's second floor, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

But rescuers lifted the dogs onto bright orange rafts to ferry them across the muddy water -- with one small mutt making the journey in a green recycling bin.

All humans and animals trapped in the hospital were eventually taken to safety after six hours of work, rescuers said.

Summer flooding has been an annual scourge since ancient times, typically focused in the vast and heavily populated Yangtze basin that drains central China.

Rising waters across central and eastern China this year have left over 210 people dead or missing, and floods have destroyed 54,000 homes, according to China's Ministry of Emergency Management.

Video broadcast by Chinese state-run media in July showed cities and towns inundated by water that rose in some places to the roofs of single-story homes, as rescue personnel evacuated men, women and children aboard inflatable boats.

Sichuan on Monday raised its flood alert to the second-highest level after continuous heavy rain since Saturday damaged farmland and transport infrastructure, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

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