Life on the Levee: Extreme Flooding in Old Fangak

Around 20 men, waist-deep in water, are working hard to dig a ditch around a mound of mud that extends as far as the eye can see. The army of shovellers knock pieces of wood into the ground and flatten plastic tarps to reinforce the mound, which is actually a series of dykes, strengthened in 2022 by the World Food Programme (WFP) team to cope with floods then described as unprecedented. This scene takes place in August 2024 in Old Fangak, in South Sudan’s Jonglei state.

Located in a remote part of northern South Sudan, Old Fangak is situated in the Sudd marshes, one of the largest wetlands in the world. Covering up to 90,000 km², this vast network of rivers, swamps and floodplains borders the White Nile, which originates in Lake Victoria, Uganda.

In May 2024, the South Sudanese government alerted the international community about the risk of exceptional floods in the months ahead. Since July, water levels have increased by an average of 1cm per day in Old Fangak, surpassing those of 2021/2022.

Over the past months, the town has taken in more than 6,000 displaced people from nearby villages affected by flooding. By August, most villages surrounding the town were under water, forcing residents to evacuate to safe places such as Old Fangak, New Fangak, Tongal and Malakal.

"Old Fangak is considered a refuge by the inhabitants of the region," explains Pareil Magany Yieh, supervisor of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission. "Most of those who fled Bentiu or even Malakal because of the war came here, and years later some of them are still living with us."

Despite a ceasefire and a power-sharing agreement which came into effect in February 2020, armed clashes continue in several regions of the country. Two years after South Sudan's independence in 2011, a war broke out between the two groups then sharing power. The rivalry between President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar plunged the country into war and revived ethnic tensions between the Dinkas – President Kiir's ethnic group and the largest community in the country – and the Nuers, the group to which Riek Machar belonged.

MSF teams have worked in the area since 2014, when they first began supporting Old Fangak hospital. Since then, MSF has expanded its operations and now also runs mobile clinics by speedboat for communities living along the Phow River and the White Nile. Despite severe flooding around the town, Old Fangak hospital remains operational, with MSF teams continuing to treat patients primarily for malnutrition, malaria, and waterborne diseases.

Between January and August 2024, MSF teams in Fangak county have vaccinated more than 12,500 women against hepatitis E, an infectious disease which has affected people in South Sudan for several years, particularly in the states of Jonglei, Warrap, Unity and Western Bahr El Ghazal. "In the short term, flooding leads to a risk of pneumonia, bacterial skin infections, diarrhoeal diseases, cholera and hepatitis A and E," explains Léo Tremblay, head of MSF’s Humanitarian Action on Climate and Environment (HACE) unit. Previous outbreaks of hepatitis E in the region in 1988, 2004 and 2012/13 were all associated with flooding and displacement.

Video: LUCY ACIBU, MSF Medical Team Leader, on the pathologies observed in OFG.

"Floods have an ongoing impact on access to healthcare, and lead to delays in the diagnosis and treatment of non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension," continues Tremblay. In the longer term, heavy rains and flooding can lead to an increase in mosquito numbers and a heightened risk of increased vector-borne diseases such as dengue fever, malaria and yellow fever. They also increase people’s exposure to chronic health risks such as schistosomiasis, a disease caused by parasitic worms.

“We are seeing the cumulative effect of the floods of recent years,” explains Mamman Mustapha, MSF's head of mission in South Sudan. “People in this area have been displaced several times since 2022 and arable land has been reduced, as have the food rations provided by the WFP. Communities are constantly having to move to a new location, not knowing if they will be able to harvest what they have been able to sow.”

The Sudd, one of the largest wetlands in the world

From a hydrological perspective, flooding is part of the Sudd's ecosystem. Fluctuations in the level of Lake Victoria upstream, as well as seasonal variations in rainfall, particularly during the rainy season from May to October, lead to significant variations in flooded areas from year to year. Located in a depression and acting as a reservoir for the White Nile, the Sudd fills with water during the wet season and partially empties into the river during the dry season. The region’s flat topography and impermeable soil hinder water drainage, resulting in prolonged flooding.

While the Sudd’s flooded area is around 30,000 km², this can reach 130,000 km² at its peak, similar to the size of Greece. Major floods have been documented here since the late 19th century.^[1] Flooding can increase the water surface area for several years at a time, reducing the land available for grazing, cultivation and housing, and leading to tensions between local communities, including the Dinka, Nuer, Anuak and Shilluk.

Video: NYABIEY KOANG on the destruction of her village in the floods, her escape, and her living conditions.

Previous floods have caused displacements, damage to roads and public infrastructure and difficulties in accessing healthcare. Food reserves, livestock and arable land have been destroyed on a scale not seen before by community elders. Between May and September 2021, more than 174,000 people were displaced by these floods in Jonglei state. That time, Fangak and Ayod counties were hardest hit. MSF launched an emergency response, providing medical care and vaccinations and distributing essential relief items to communities in the region.

"When it happened for the first time, you were not even born," says John Yuot Ruot, from Wangchoat village in Jonglei state. "Our parents used piles of grass and branches to protect themselves from the water and stay dry. It was devastating. Then we started building dykes to protect the village."

Many villages previously accessible by foot have become isolated islands which can now only be reached by boat. To protect themselves from the floodwaters, many communities build mud dykes – mud being the only material available to them.

Video: FELICIA OCHEDIKWY, MSF outreach manager, on mobile clinics and JASPER ADOTO, MSF vaccination coordinator, on intervention difficulties.

Extreme flooding and climate change

South Sudan is currently considered both the country most vulnerable to climate change,^[2] and the country with the least capacity to manage and adapt to its consequences. Over the past 30 years, South Sudan has experienced some of the world’s fastest rates of global warming, with temperatures rising up to 0.53°C per decade;^[3] across large parts of the country, temperatures have increased by more than 1°C.

South Sudan is also affected by El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole, two weather phenomena that frequently coexist in the tropics, leading to significant changes in climate on both a regional and global scale. Long-term climate projections^[4] forecast more precipitation in some regions of South Sudan and upstream of the Lake Victoria basin. "El Niño and the positive Indian Ocean Dipole, especially when concurrent, accelerate this trend over a short period," explains Tremblay. "When these events occur, they bring more upstream rainfall."

In late 2018 and early 2019, the combination of El Niño and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole brought heavy rains to the Lake Victoria basin and led to massive flooding in the Sudd region over the following years. "The level of Lake Victoria is a crucial factor for MSF projects around the White Nile, such as those in Leer, Bentiu, Aweil, Malakal and Fangak," says Mustapha. "The country also experiences frequent droughts, particularly in the south and northeast, which affect the mobility of herders and farmers who themselves depend on pastures and agricultural land to survive."

In March 2024, South Sudan experienced extremely high temperatures countrywide as part of a larger heat wave that affected East Africa. Temperatures reached 45°C in some regions, leading to the closure of schools and businesses and to travel restrictions in some areas. In the past 40 years, South Sudan has experienced long periods of drought, affecting more than 50 per cent of the country, including in 1984-86, 2004-07 and 2008-09. The 2017 drought, meanwhile, was concentrated more specifically in the eastern states.

"After long periods of drought, the soil becomes even drier, harder, and less permeable, leading to increased runoff and decreased soil absorption, which in turn exacerbates the risk of flooding," explains Tremblay.

According to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, the frequency of natural disasters of hydrological origin (floods, landslides, mudflows etc) has doubled over the past 20 years. "People living in Old Fangak and more generally in the Sudd region are among those who have contributed least to climate change but are suffering its worst consequences," says Mustapha. "As such, they should be prioritised and directly compensated through the Loss and Damage^[5] fund currently being set up, or through any other mechanism."

Video: PAREIL MAGANY YIEH, Relief & Rehabilitation Commission supervisor, on the dyke explaining the level of previous floods.

An underfunded humanitarian response

Humanitarian needs, particularly those related to nutrition and health, continue to grow across the country, yet further funding cuts are expected this year. As of September 2024, the Humanitarian Response Plan for South Sudan was only half-funded, while that of 2023 was funded at just 56 per cent.

"Malnutrition rates in South Sudan are among the highest in the world and, without additional funding, vital interventions for children and mothers suffering from malnutrition are threatened," warns Yusra Shariff, MSF humanitarian affairs coordinator in Juba. Due to decreased funding, the WFP, for example, can only provide half food rations in certain areas and is forced to prioritise the most vulnerable people. This neglects those with less severe health conditions, with the risk that their health may get worse.

“People in Old Fangak still need more material to reinforce the dykes, such as wooden poles and ropes, says Mustapha. “Our outreach teams have also been seeing worrying signs of malnutrition among children in the surrounding villages. A significant increase in humanitarian funding for food and nutrition programs is crucial to sustain access to food amidst ongoing displacement and economic challenges.”

According to the UN, 735,000 people are currently affected by flooding across nearly half of South Sudan's 79 counties. Water levels are expected to reach their peak in October.

References:

^[1] Major floods have been documented by historian Douglas Johnson in 1871-1874, 1916-18, 1931-34, 1946-49 and 1961-64 see Reconstructing a History of Local Floods in the Upper Nile Region of the Sudan, January 1992, The International Journal of African Historical Studies 25(3):607.

^[2] https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/91048a50-eacb-5a24-9fa4-30cf8a9a9c9b / World Bank, 2023

^[3] https://www.climate-service-center.de/products_and_publications/fact_sheets/climate_fact_sheets/index.php.en

^[4] https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/south-sudan/climate-data-projections

^[5] In 2023, COP28 agreed to establish a loss and damage fund to help developing countries cope with the effects of climate change. Esther Duflo, winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, proposed an alternative mechanism, advocating for direct cash transfers to individuals funded by taxes on multinational corporations and billionaires.