Sudan has issued a “red alert” warning of imminent floods in five provinces after the Blue and White Nile rivers swelled.
The irrigation ministry said the alert, announced Sunday and still in effect Monday, covers Khartoum, River Nile, White Nile, Sennar, and Blue Nile provinces.
Officials warned residents that homes and farmlands could be inundated, urging caution as the waters continue straining Sudan’s fragile flood defenses.
In River Nile province, farmers were forced into quick crop sales after rising water submerged lowlands, threatening harvests and livelihoods alike.
Authorities confirmed water levels have surged for four consecutive days as dams discharged excess flows, though a gradual decrease is expected this week.
Abbas Sharaky, a geology and water resources professor at Cairo University, called the surge a man-made error linked to Ethiopia’s new dam.
Ethiopia inaugurated the $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam this month, promising more than 5,000 megawatts of power and doubling electricity capacity.
Yet experts warn mismanagement has intensified Sudan’s flood risk, particularly as the dam failed to release water gradually after the rainy season.
Sharaky said four turbines meant to regulate the reservoir malfunctioned, preventing Ethiopia from easing pressure and pushing excess water downstream into Sudan.
He accused Ethiopian officials of concealing failures, saying their insistence the turbines function contradicted evidence of rising water trapped behind the dam.
Egypt, a longtime critic of Ethiopia’s project, accused Addis Ababa of lacking the political will to reach a binding water-sharing agreement.
Ethiopia’s Water Minister Habtamu Itefa Geleta countered, insisting the dam reduced flooding by storing rainwater, portraying it as a shield, not a threat.
Sudan’s warning, however, underscores a deepening crisis where rivers, politics, and power collide, leaving vulnerable communities trapped between water’s promise and its peril.
