Africa report
South Sudan: Old Fangak, a city of refuge in the heart of a region devastated by floods [1/4]
Audio 02:15
Aerial view of Old Fangak.
© Florence Miettaux / RFI
By: Florence Miettaux
3 mins
At the heart of the "Sudd", the largest swamp in Africa, which unfolds in the floodplain of the Nile in South Sudan, Old Fangak has not escaped the floods of unprecedented magnitude that have ravaged the country since 2020. Residents of this small town in northern Jonglei state have struggled with water.
They built a dyke, in an emergency, in October 2021, when the city was being conquered by water, making Old Fangak an “island” of 3 km radius in the middle of the swamps.
A place of refuge in the middle of an area that has become uninhabitable.
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From our special correspondent at Old Fangak,
The people of Old Fangak lost everything in the floods: their livestock died, their fields were covered with water and their villages became uninhabitable.
At the fish market, Nyaga Chati came by canoe to do her shopping: “
The floods destroyed everything.
We only have fish and water lilies to feed us;
sometimes with WFP rations.
Besides, we can't all fit inside the dike here.
We raised our houses to hold with the children;
but it is unlivable…
”
Standing on the dike where the canoes dock, Pareil Magany Yieth, a local official, points to the flooded houses in the distance: “
All that was dry land.
But with the floods, you see, people are now moving around in canoes.
And all these villages that are outside the dyke have been destroyed by the floods.
Residents came inside.
It's overcrowded.
In terms of hygiene, it's not good
.
»
“We have nothing left.
We are waiting for help”
Some areas have been hit even harder by the floods.
In the south of Fangak County, 3 hours away by motorboat, around 5,000 people have taken refuge on three tiny "islands" for more than a year.
On that of Kuernyapuol, the women are exhausted and the children, malnourished, deplores Nyahon Garang: “
Before the floods, we were rich.
We were cultivating.
Coming, you must have seen two beautiful and large huts?
These are the ones my husband built for the 50 cows we had.
But now they are all dead.
We have nothing left.
We expect help.
»
The island's leader, Tut Chuol, refuses to leave.
He says he is ready to face a new rainy season: “
We have nowhere to go.
We're going to make a dyke all around the island.
We expect even worse flooding, as the water level has not gone down since January.
And the rains have only just begun.
So we are convinced that the water will rise even more.
Only God can lower the water level, we will resist as best we can.
»
Faced with alarming weather forecasts, the United Nations began, in mid-June, the construction of a large dyke all around the town of Old Fangak.
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South Sudan