South Sudan Declares Emergency as Floods Hit One Million People

(Bloomberg) --

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir declared an emergency in three of the country’s regions as floods swept through communities, affecting about one million people.

The affected regions, including Upper Nile, have oil fields and farmlands key to the recovery of a nation that’s struggling to halt a five-year civil war that killed around 400,000 people. Oil Minister Awow Daniel Chuang said Tuesday that flooding in Upper Nile posed a challenge to production of crude, although it didn’t affect output.

The emergency declaration takes effect immediately, according to a statement released Wednesday by the president’s office in the capital, Juba.

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