“The fishermen shall lament; All who cast lines in the Nile shall mourn, And those who spread nets on the water shall languish.” Isaiah 19:8
Sudan has been suffering record flooding of the Nile River, its primary water source. The average level of the Blue Nile has reached 17.43 meters, the highest since the country started measuring in 1912, Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas said on Thursday. The Defense and Security Council was prompted to declare a three-month national state of emergency, designating Sudan a “natural disaster zone” after water levels reached the highest ever recorded. More than 100 people have died, over 100 000 homes have been damaged or destroyed, and about half a million residents have been displaced since the start of the rainy season.
Part of the problem is the lack of coordination between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan regarding water resource management. A recent round of talks under the auspices of the African Union ended inconclusively last month.
