At least 20 people died when torrential rain and heavy floods hit Gogrial West County of South Sudan’s Warrrap State in the last two months, a local official said.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, Gogrial West County Commissioner Victor Wek Koor said three people died due to floods last week, raising the death toll due to floods in the area since July to 20.

"Three people drowned in floodwaters last week. One person was from Akon North Payam, another one was from Panrieu Payam and the third person was from Gogrial Payam. So between July and September, we lost about 20 people due to floods," he added.

He added, “The road is totally cut off and people coming from Akon to Kuajok town don't make it even if you used motorcycles, it is still difficult to move in water for a distance of six meters. People opted to use the Aweil road for medical treatment."

William Deng Kuel, a leader of the Awan Chan community, confirmed the deaths due to floods and blamed the government for doing little to rescue those affected by floods.

"The problem of floods is not for Warrap state alone but for South Sudan as a whole. Imagine the road from Wau to Akon is only 161 kilometres and the government cannot repair it," he said.

Last week, South Sudan’s government announced that it set up a committee to access the floods crisis across the country.

OCHA last month warned of limited supplies and a funding shortfall, saying that it had only received 54 percent of the $1.7 billion required to pay for programmes in the country.