ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Several people have died and a number of others were injured in Erbil after a heavy rainstorm caused severe flooding in some of the city’s neighborhoods and districts, its governor told Rudaw on Friday morning.
Following a summer of drought, a heavy rainstorm hit Erbil on Thursday evening causing significant flooding, material damage, and the loss of at least eight lives.
“Seven people died due to floods and one other person died in a lightning strike,” Omed Khoshnaw told Rudaw’s Fuad Raheem about events in the city overnight, noting that several others have been injured and it is still unclear how many homes have been damaged and the total number of fatalities.
Erbil’s civil defence department told Rudaw that four of its members were injured while helping people.
Muddy waters swept into people’s homes in Erbil's Daratu, Qushtapa, Shamamk, Zhyan, Roshinbiri and Bahrka areas in the early hours of the morning, flooding individuals out of their houses.
Among the deaths is an infant from Qushtapa and three members from the same family in Daratu, according to Khoshnaw, adding that the number of fatalities “could possibly increase.”
The heavy waters swept away the ten-month-old Danar Nabaz from his father's arms, according to his outraged mother who called on the authorities for help as burning tears penetrated her skin. Her son's body is yet to be found.
“The fridge is on the floor... everything is on the floor. I don’t even have clothes to wear anymore,” another woman whose house was swept by the rainwaters told Rudaw’s Farhad Dolamari, with the sight of her home causing her to shed infuriating tears.
Erbil suffers from an inadequate water supply distribution network and an unsustainable drainage system. Sewers often overflow, leading to sewage escaping and mixing with stormwater.
Footage of flooded streets, damaged houses, broken cars, and raging residents have circulated on social media.
Erbil's governor also urged the people to “not use the roads inside and outside Erbil unless for utmost urgency,” in a statement on Friday noting that another wave of heavy rain is expected to hit the city in the upcoming hours.
The rainstorm is expected to last for more days, with heavy rainfall reported across several cities of the Region.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Friday emphasized the importance of saving civilians lives, and “to do whatever is needed” to help the people.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Friday called on "all government agencies to provide immediate support and relief to areas affected."
Expressing her sadness about the lives lost to the floods in a tweet, Halabja Mayor Nuxsha Nasih called on PM Barzani and his deputy Qubad Talabani to delegate financial and administrative authorities and to “provide all the needs for logistic governance” in the Region.
Nasih also warned of floods in other provinces, and emphasized the importance of “listening to advisers and officials.”
Erbil province often faces severe floods in the colder seasons of the year. Nearly 600 houses suffered material damage and stalling vehicles blocked flooded main roads in its first strong rainfall of the year in late October.
In the past years, several neighborhoods of Erbil have faced severe damages due to floods.
This flood comes as the Kurdistan Region faced a record dry year, with several lakes and rivers drying up and thousands of crops damaged.
Updated at 1:30 pm
