Heavy rains in South Sudan have forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and exacerbated a humanitarian crisis in the troubled country, the United Nations said Friday.

About 90,000 people have already been affected by flooding as unrelenting rains inundate homes, agricultural fields and push people and their livestock to higher grounds.

Most of those affected are in the counties of Ayod and Canal in Jonglei state, the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said in a statement.

"For many, this is the second time they have faced flooding since May," it said.

The young nation is still struggling to cope with the aftermath of a five-year civil war that left nearly 400,000 people dead.

The fighting -- marked by ethnic massacres, widespread rape and other forms of brutality -- heightened poverty and crippled the production of crude oil, a major generator of revenue for the state.

About 82 percent of the 11 million-strong population is poor, according to a April 2021 World Bank report.

The flooding is seriously eroding people's ability to cope and survive, said OCHA's humanitarian coordinator Arafat Jamal.

"What is occurring in Ayod is a distressing example of how a changing climate disrupts the normal patterns and intensifies the effects of flooding, leaving people disoriented and dispossessed," he said.

"The people we met in Ayod and Canal faced acute humanitarian needs, yet their thoughts were directed to their brethren across the river, marooned on islands surrounded by water, sheltering under trees and unable to cross to safety."

The United Nations called for urgent assistance, saying shelter, medicine and access to clean water was needed.

"The imperative right now is to alleviate suffering, which we shall do with the resources at our disposal," said Jamal.

"But we must also help communities to adapt to change, and we are also investing in longer term interventions, such as dyke building, that will help communities to better withstand recurring climate shocks."

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