JUBA - Flooding not seen in 40 years in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state has affected nearly 200,000 people who urgently need support, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.

The inundated area, near Maban’s capital town of Bunj, is prone to flooding at this time of year because of heavy seasonal rains, but the situation has been getting worse because rainfall in neighbouring Ethiopia is becoming more intense and irregular, the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR’s Andrej Mahecic told journalists in Geneva.

Mr. Mahecic said that with the help of local partners and the authorities, UNHCR plans to reach the area, which shelters more than 150,000 refugees from Sudan.

UNHCR has pre-positioned emergency shelter kits and material assistance to help more than 5,000 affected families rebuild and repair damaged shelters, but says that more support is needed.

South Sudan hosts almost 300,000 refugees - mainly from Sudan’s Blue Nile and South Kordofan. An additional nearly 1.5 million are displaced inside the country.