The Ashmoun City and Center Administration, located in Egypt’s Menoufia Governorate, appealed on Friday for all residents and farmers occupying Nile floodplain lands to immediately evacuate the areas and their homes.
This appeal came just hours after Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced that two Egyptian governorates were vulnerable to potential flooding due to a large influx of water onto the floodplain lands.
The city administration pointed out that the significant water flow could lead to the inundation of most floodplain areas, as well as the buildings erected along the sides of the water channel. It warned villagers and residents on the floodplain of the dangers of remaining in those zones, urging them to avoid any current cultivation and to quickly evacuate their homes to ensure their safety.
This emergency measure follows earlier statements by Madbouly, who confirmed that the government had prepared in advance to manage the consequences of the Nile flood. He noted that the month of October typically sees high discharge rates that may exceed the average, potentially flooding some of the floodplain lands and informal structures, particularly in the Monufia and Beheira governorates.
During the weekly press conference on Thursday, following the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Madbouly explained that forecasts for October indicate that water discharge volumes will be higher than average rates, which will lead to the inundation of some Nile floodplain lands and informal structures, particularly in the northern governorates of Monufia and Beheira.
Madbouly also issued a warning to all encroachers on the Nile floodplain lands, confirming that these areas may be submerged during the current period as part of the measures taken to manage the flood. He stressed that the floodplain lands are an integral part of the Nile River’s water domain.
The Prime Minister reiterated that Ethiopia’s actions are the reason behind the floods in Sudan, specifically after Addis Ababa discharged water from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in a unilateral manner. He renewed the call for the necessity of obligating Ethiopia to reach a binding agreement for the operation of the dam.
