Sudan urges people living in flood plains to evacuate

KHARTOUM, July 25 (Reuters) Sudan has advised people residing along flood paths to relocate to safer areas as heavy rains that have already killed 55 people and destroyed 25,000 homes continue to batter much of the country.

''We are also urging those living along river banks and in areas previously affected by floods to leave immediately,'' Hamadallah Adam Ali, the head of the civil defense authority, told Reuters yesterday.

Sudan is experiencing its worst floods in living memory. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement last week the floods could affect some 2.4 million people across 16 of Sudan's 26 states.

Sudanese Interior Minister Zubeir Bashir Taha warned the situation was almost critical, predicting heavier rains in the coming days or weeks.

''The levels are now fluctuating between alert and critical. We haven't as yet exceeded the critical level. We have exceeded the alert level,'' the minister told Reuters earlier this week.

Taha said there is no immediate shortage of tents or food and 25,000 families have been provided shelter so far.

''We can go up to about 1,00,000. If we go above 1,00,000 families in need of shelter it will be a certain crisis,'' he said.

Most of the 55 dead and 125 injured have been in central, eastern and southeastern Sudan, according to Ali.

''Nearly 25,000 homes have been completely destroyed and 20,000 homes partially affected,'' he said, adding that 130 government buildings, including schools, had collapsed.

Ali said the rains had also affected parts of south Sudan.

Major roads to some parts of the country and bridges have either been washed away or disabled.

Police helicopters continue to air drop supplies to people stranded in places inaccessible by road, including villages in northern Sudan, which was among the worst hit regions during last year's flooding.

''We definitely need large helicopters because fixed wing we don't have air strips and roads are inaccessible,'' the interior minister said.

Aid workers have said with better monitoring and planning Sudan's authorities could prevent deaths.

REUTERS DKS PM0430