More than half a million people displaced by flooding in Sudan

More than half a million people displaced by flooding in Sudan. Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory shows flooding in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, on September 2, 2020.

An intense rainy season has devastated communities across the region, as the Nile River and some of its tributaries reached their highest levels in 100 years.

According to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), flooding in Sudan has claimed at least 100 lives and damaged or destroyed more than 110,000 homes since mid-July. More than 650,000 people have been displaced by flooding in Sudan this year. More than half a million people displaced by flooding in Sudan

The image was captured by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite. Sudan’s history goes back to the Pharaonic period, witnessing the Kingdom of Kerma (c. 2500–1500 BC), the subsequent rule of the Egyptian New Kingdom (c. 1500 BC–1070 BC) and the rise of the Kingdom of Kush (c. 785 BC–350 AD), which would in turn control Egypt itself for nearly a century. After the fall of Kush, the Nubians formed the three Christian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia, with the latter two lasting until around 1500. Between the 14th and 15th centuries, much of Sudan was settled by Arab nomads. From the 16th–19th centuries, central and eastern Sudan were dominated by the Funj sultanate, while Darfur ruled the west and the Ottomans the far north.

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory 

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer