Rhino: Agencies – The heavy rains that fell last Friday in Kassala state, eastern Sudan, caused a worsening of the humanitarian crisis in the camps for displaced people.

 Housing facilities in the concrete structure and the Omar al-Hajj Musa School, two main reception centers for IDPs, were severely affected.

Hussein Saleh, the camps’ catering officer, told Radio Tamazuj that the situation is disastrous as a result of the impact of the rains on bathrooms and water sources.

 Overflowing toilets could lead to the spread of diseases among the IDPs, who are estimated to number in the thousands, he said.

The biggest impact of the rains was on the Kassala morning school canter, which is hosting large numbers of IDPs, including many families and children, Saleh said.

 Efforts by volunteers, humanitarian organizations and the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) include providing meals and water, he said, but the needs are still huge.

The government has proposed an alternative site on the national road in West Kassala localities to receive IDPs, but the catastrophic impact of the rains is still significant on the current sites and surrounding areas.

Saleh noted that the IDPs are still in the open, as tents do not provide adequate protection from the rains, resulting in water flowing in from every direction.

There is an urgent need for additional shelter materials, as well as the provision of mobile toilets and clinics and additional support for centralized kitchens to meet food needs, he said.

In recent years, Kassala state has seen an increase in emergencies caused by heavy rains, which cause flooding that affects basic facilities and infrastructure.