The village of Old Fangak has been overtaken by flood waters. On Saturday, August 30th, the dike which protected the village from the swamps and the Zaref River gave way. Within a short period of time, the entire village was engulfed by waste deep water.

People in the village found refuge anywhere they could. On top of structures, on makeshift rafts, on the dike itself. The call for help went out just after midnight. Hundreds of people, along with livestock, needed to be rescued. We responded and helped bring people to safety.

This was the latest in tragic events for Old Fangak— our base of operations since 2009. In early May the village had come under attack by government helicopter gunships. A bomb destroyed the medical clinic’s pharmacy. The medical clinic, tuberculosis clinic, and our staff headquarters strafed by bullets. The armed conflict is due to the breakdown of a fragile peace accord and ethnic tensions within the government itself.

Many thousands left Old Fangak after the attack and resettled in nearby villages. As a result, there were only few hundred people still living in Old Fangak—too few to respond to the ruptured dike.

Luckily there were no reports of fatalities.  But nearly everyone lost their homes and now face an uncertain future.