AYOD, South Sudan – Each year, as the wet season arrives, the perceived beauty of South Sudan's landscapes transforms dramatically, yielding to treacherous depths of water, swelling rivers, and inundated communities. This year, the consequences have been especially dire, as thousands of families gather on the banks of the Jonglei Canal, which has become both refuge and barrier against one of the world’s most devastating cycles of climate crisis.
For many, like 70-year-old Bichiok Hoth Chuiny, the flooding has turned their lives upside down. "Too much suffering," she remarked, as she traversed the new community of Pajiek, made from mud and grass homes, supported by a stick. Chuiny's original village, Gorwai, now lies submerged beneath the murky waters, transformed irrevocably by the floods.
According to the U.N. humanitarian agency, over 379,000 people have been displaced due to flooding this year alone, which has become routine for pastoral communities living around the Sudd wetlands. Communities who once thrived on agriculture and cattle farming now find themselves cut off from their traditional livelihoods. "The Dinka, Nuer, and Murle communities of Jonglei are losing the ability to keep cattle and do farming the way they used to," expressed Daniel Akech Thiong, from the International Crisis Group.
The influence of climate change has prompted severe flooding across the region, with the recent overflow of the Nile attributed to several factors, including upstream dam releases from Uganda after Lake Victoria’s water levels rose significantly. Local leaders, such as Peter Kuach Gatchang, have witnessed firsthand the environmental shifts. “We don’t know up to where this flooding would have pushed us if the canal was not there,” Gatchang stated, as he worked to cultivate pumpkins and eggplants to provide for his fellow displaced residents.
With the local economy crippled and the result of the climate crisis wreaking havoc on everyday life, such precariousness has turned the Jonglei Canal—a century-old project envisioned by colonial forces—into an unintentional lifeline. The government, having relied upon the efforts of various international aid programs, remains largely disengaged, leaving communities such as Pajiek to fend for themselves amid increasing hunger and health concerns.
The World Food Program is on-site distributing food, yet the processes are fraught with challenges. Residents frequently wade through floods, risking encounters with poisonous snakes as they travel up to six hours to reach the nearest clinics. Members of the community recall carrying patients on stretchers, as medical services remain sparse. Reported conditions are dire: "The last time we got drugs was in September. We mobilized the women to carry them on foot from Ayod town,” recounted Juong Dok Tut, who works as a clinical officer.
With homes and livelihoods swept away, families cling to the hope provided by meager rations. Nyabuot Reat Kuor, mother to eight children, articulated the desperation felt among many: “This flooding has destroyed our farm, killed our livestock and displaced us for good." Families have relied on wild leaves and water lilies from the swamp, struggling to meet their nutritional needs as international funding for food assistance declines.
While the floods remain part of the regional climate, the circumstances created by prolonged civil conflict since South Sudan's independence—particularly following the civil war erupting in 2013—have rendered countless citizens vulnerable. Two million remain internally displaced due to conflict and environmental disasters, meeting severe challenges as local governance and infrastructure falter under the weight of intertwined crises.
Despite agreements aimed at stabilizing the situation since 2018, actual responses addressing these multiple crises have faltered. With many families seeking refuge on higher ground, their continued existence largely depends on external aid—while local government presence remains all but absent.
The recent flooding has not just wreaked havoc on homes and communities, but has also highlighted South Sudan’s precarious hold on security and basic human rights. Without significant intervention, both from local governments and the international community, the annual floods threaten to exacerbate already desperate living conditions.
