Pompeo: US continues to support Sudan as floods ravage country

Workers with the Sudanese antiquities authority line a stone wall with sandbags to mitigate flood water damage to a structure in the ancient royal city at the archaeological site of Meroe, in the River Nile State's al-Bajrawia area, 300Km north of the capital, on September 9, 2020. (AFP)

Flood water fills a ditch in the ancient royal city at the archaeological site of Meroe, in the Sudanese al-Bajrawia area in the River Nile State, 300Km north of the capital, on September 9, 2020. (AFP)

• Floods in Sudan have killed more than 100 people this summer and swamped over 100,000 houses
• On Thursday, authorities declared an economic emergency following a dramatic plunge in the value of the national currency

LONDON: The US will continue to support the Sudanese people, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday as flash floods continue to ravage the country.
Pompeo said he called the country’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Friday to express his condolences for those who died in “Sudan’s recent flooding and to discuss our assistance for the response.”
Floods in Sudan have killed more than 100 people this summer and swamped over 100,000 houses, putting further strain on an economy already struggling.

I called @SudanPMHamdok yesterday to express my condolences for those lost in Sudan’s recent flooding and to discuss our assistance for the response. The United States will continue to support the Sudanese people through this difficult time.

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) September 12, 2020

On Thursday, authorities declared an economic emergency following a dramatic plunge in the value of the national currency, the Sudanese pound.
The “deterioration of the currency has been dramatic,” Information Minister Faisal Saleh said. He accused loyalists of ousted President Omar Al-Bashir of trying to undermine Sudan’s transition to democracy.
“The government’s treasury is empty,” he said.
As of Thursday, at least 103 people had died and at least 500 had been injured because of flooding that has struck since July.