By Matik Kueth
More than 67,000 people have been displaced by relentless flooding in Mayom County, Unity State, after heavy rains submerged eight of the county’s 11 Payams, including Kueryiek, Ruathnyibuol, and Mankien. The floods have severely impacted residents, livestock, and crops. County Commissioner Luka Chierey told King Media on Thursday that displacement is ongoing.
“All the time and all the hours, we have people affected by this flooding. So, the number of displaced people keeps rising. And that is now we don’t have an actual number of these displaced. But I have a finger of last week from RRC, NRC, Samarian Purse, and another organizations that are working with us here on the ground. The number that has been affected reached 67,000. That was last week,” Chierey stated.
He noted that the number of displaced people continues to rise and may exceed 80,000. Over 100 people have already crossed into Abiemnom County and have been registered by the county’s RRC.
“I have almost 100 plus people that are across Mayom to Abiemnom County. And they are there in Abiemnom. They were received by the former commissioner, Honorable Ador Mayeel. They are now there. They have been registered by the RRC of Abiemnom County. They are there. But most of these displaced people, they are within. But the problem now, they were received in one place. There is a high congestion of all these internally displaced people by the flooding.”
Chierey grumbled that since the Mayom hospital has run out of drugs, the problem might be with lactating mothers, pregnant women, elderly people, children, and those with chronic illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure.
“And we are feeling for the outbreak of airborne disease, cholera, diarrhea, and so on, a lot of cases. So, we lack medicine for this patient,” he explained.
Residents of Mayom County’s Kueryiek Payam are taking a respite on the road after they were displaced by the floodwaters from their homesteads. [Photo – courtesy]