The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is responding to the needs of flood survivors in Sudan after extended heavy rains over the past several months have caused excessive flooding and the destruction of thousands of homes throughout the East African nation.

“Affected communities will soon be running out of food and clean water,” said Clement J. Arkangelo, associate country director for ADRA’s South Sudan office. “Crops have been submerged under water and destroyed, which will affect this year’s harvest and perpetuate the cycle of hunger.”

More than half a million people have been affected since the beginning of the rains in June 2007, according to the United Nations. Since the onset of the rains, ADRA North Sudan has acted as the lead agency in the White Nile State in northern Sudan. Working with partner agencies, ADRA North Sudan has assisted several thousand families in the White Nile State, distributing food and supplies in the areas of Kosti and Rabak.

“The floods are the worst in living memory,” said Vergiel Ramirez, country director for ADRA North Sudan. “Thousands of families lost everything in this disaster. ADRA North Sudan is working with other local agencies to help the affected survivors recover and regain a feeling of normalcy throughout this tumultuous time.”

In July, ADRA North Sudan provided emergency packages whose contents included blankets, sleeping mats, water cans, buckets, and mosquito nets for 5,420 people in the Rabak and Kosti areas. More than 1,000 families received emergency food packages.

For more information, see the Web site www.adra.org.