Torrential rains destroy hundreds of shelters in South Darfur

AllAfrica.com via Radio Dabanga: Heavy rainfall in South Darfur on Saturday destroyed hundreds of homes, especially in Kalma, Otash, El Salam, and Dereig camps for the displaced.

A sheikh of Otash camp reported to Radio Dabanga that the heavy rains on Saturday morning, lasting from 1am until 12am, destroyed more than 1,500 shelters. "The rains and the ensuing floods swept the shelters and belongings of the people, and spoiled the food. Hundreds of families are now living in the open without shelter, food, or medicines.

The sheikh urged relief organisations to accelerate the provision of aid, food, tents, and plastic sheets to the affected.

In Kalma camp, hundreds of shelters and dozens of toilets collapsed too. Hussein Abu Sharati, the spokesman for the Association of Displaced People and Refugees of Darfur pointed out to Radio Dabanga that about 50 percent of the shelters are damaged. "The floods prevented us from making a detailed inventory of the losses."

"The more than 3,000 newly displaced families who are living in the open, lost the little amounts of food in their possession", he added...

A Darfur refugee camp in Chad, shot in 2005 by Mark Knobil, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license