Sudan's worst floods for 25 years leave 500,000 facing destruction and disease

Mark Tran in the "globaldevelopment" blog in Guardian (UK): Forty-eight people have been killed and more than 500,000 affected by the worst floods in Sudan in quarter of a century. The region around the capital, Khartoum, was particularly badly hit, with at least 15,000 homes destroyed and thousands of others damaged. Across Sudan, at least 25,000 homes are no longer habitable. A UN official described the situation as a disaster.

The flooding, caused by continuous rains, has damaged public buildings, including schools, clinics, offices, shops, markets and water and sanitation facilities. Roads have been inundated, disrupting transport.

One of the major health worries is the collapse of more than 53,000 latrines; the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned of an increase in malaria cases in the past two weeks....

From NASA in 2005, a satellite image of Khartoum. The cities Omdurman (left), Bahri (top right) and Khartoum (bottom right) divided through the Nile river.