Wilayat Kassala Travel Forum

Just thought I'd mention something about a small disaster that has happened here in Kassala. Ten days ago, the Gash River burst its banks and flooded the city. Many parts of the city have been destroyed, with an unknown number of dead, and ten thousand families made homeless. There has been no electricity in many parts of the city, and drinking water is obviously a big problem. Relief agencies are trying their best to cope, but still thousands of people are without a roof over their heads as there seems to be delays in getting tents to those affected.
I've only just managed to leave the city, and have to say that it is in a real mess. The first two days of the floods, I was walking around in water up to my chest trying to get home to my house, and now the city is full of thick mud. Many houses collapsed under the force of the water, including my next door neighbours'. The main souq is operating, with fully functional shops next to semi demolished ones...a very strange sight.
Having just checked my e-mail, I was a bit disappointed not to have any "hope you are OK" e-mails from family and friends ...so did anyone else hear about them, or have I been abandoned by friends and family?! If nothing has been mentioned in the media, then this is my bit to change that...

Soggy greetings from Kassala
Michael

sorry - I hadn't heard anything. I just did a search on the BBC and they have no mentions of flooding there either. Glad you made it out though!

this is the first I've heard
big hug from england

Hi Michael,
I've read about it during my Sudan-farewell holiday in Kenya, but I didn't realise how bad it was until I heard some first hand accounts of the floodings. Must have been quite a mess indeed!
Fine to hear you're OK. Say hi to my friends there, if they return, and stay afloat!
Roel

WOW! No, as for news on floodings here in Europe, it is all from India at the moment. We are otherwise "too busy" with our own draughts - river levels are down to nothing - the Po is down to a seventh of its size and evil mosquitos have appeared, people die in the heat in Spain, London beat its heat record today and so on. So sorry...no news. I think we've always been bad reporting on African disasters here when it's not famines...:-(

Hi
This is a little late perhaps, but I hope you are ok. Was just wondering what the situation is there now.
I heard about the flood from Reuters AlertNet (it updates crisis situations worldwide). Since I have a lot of friends in NGOs, I like to keep up to date with what's going on in th the world. The US media just doesn't cover the world like it should.
Give us an update on the situation there if you can.
All the best.

OK, well Kassala is still a wee bit damp! The river levels have gone down, and there has been no serious flooding since august, but the situation there is still bad. Aid has arrived from the Gulf, but much of what has been sent has been kept in Khartoum. Also, the governmenmt has refused assistance from a nmber of organizations, and has asked for money instead...so of course many organizations do not trust them. The people of Kassala are actually quite cross with their own government...I mean, the Gash river floods every few years, so it is not exactly a surprise, but the government does nothing to help.
Life in the city is getting back to normal...the souq re-opened even during the floods, but now it is fully thriving. A lot of businesses have been destroyed however, and many facilities are no longer existant. The town has survived though...
Recently, I went on a walk through some of the badly affected areas (one area, Halanga Wasat, seems to be an area consisiting solely of tents), and while people are angry about the lack of help they have received, they are not sure that the floods have affected them that m,uch. Someone said to me..."the rich are rich enough to look after themselves...the middle classes have suffered a blow, but will recover...and the poor have always been poor...so the floods have made no difference to Kassala"...I'm inclined to agree, although the flood damage does still shock me.

Thanks for your interest in my city...hopefully Kassala will learn from these floods and be better prepared for next year...

Michael

>Hi
This is a little late perhaps, but I hope you are ok. Was just wondering what the situation is there now.
I heard about the flood from Reuters AlertNet (it updates crisis situations worldwide). Since I have a lot of friends in NGOs, I like to keep up to date with what's going on in th the world. The US media just doesn't cover the world like it should.
Give us an update on the situation there if you can.
All the best.<