South Sudan warns of severe flooding

South Sudan issued a warning on Thursday of severe flooding as water levels in Lake Victoria, a source of the Nile, reached a record high.

Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Pal Mai Deng said that they have received information from neighboring Uganda indicating that Lake Victoria's water levels have risen by 13.6 meters, a record high in the Nile Basin region in 128 years.

This increase has also raised the water level in a dam in Jinja, Uganda.

"Due to this high-water level, the amounts of water coming into Jinja dams in Uganda are overwhelming. Because of that, the retention of the passage of Jinja Dam is overwhelmed, and the government of Uganda is forced to release that massive amount of water, which is 2,600 cubic meters per second downstream into South Sudan," Mai said in Juba, South Sudan's capital.

According to the minister, South Sudan will experience flooding as a result of the unusual water release, which could be more severe than what occurred in 2019, 2021 and 2022.

Mai noted that the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) Climate Prediction and Applications Center forecasted that rainfall in South Sudan is going to be wetter than last year, which he warned would be disastrous.

"We will have too much displacement, and according to the reports of the humanitarian community, a population of five million people is set to be at risk of famine and starvation as we speak," Mai said.

Joseph Africano Bartel, undersecretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, said South Sudan will be impacted by climate change as a result of the actions of developed and industrialised countries.

He said the country has developed a national adaptation programme to fight climate change that requires funding to implement.

"We have developed our nationally determined contribution to fighting climate change, and we have also developed our national adaptation program of action. For us to be climate-proof by 2050, South Sudan needs $100 billion," Bartel said.