ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Last week's flood severely damaged some resorts in Duhok province’s Zakho, with the affected calling on the government to compensate them.
Dilshad Faraj has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages due to the collapse of his restaurant at the resort village of Govke, Zakho, Duhok province.
Faraj called on the government to compensate for their financial losses.
"I spent around $700,000 in building this restaurant. I have suffered massive financial damage," Faraj said. "I could say this building is of no use at all. It must be demolished,” he added.
Faraj voiced the hope that the president and the prime minister of the Kurdistan Region will compensate him for the massive damages suffered, stressing that "Unless we are compensated, we will not see [tourists] again in this place, the way that we used to last year."
Of 350 tourist tents built in the village of Govke and reportedly destroyed by the flooding, 25 of them are owned by local resident Mahir Ibrahim.
"The flood severely damaged our places. We had placed some children's playground equipment here. They have all been swept away by the floodwater," Ibrahim said. "We will once again have to bring new ones," he added.
He detailed the damages he suffered, saying that "If the ground concrete is broken, then we will have to spend $10,000 in addition to around $2,000-3000 for the playground equipment."
The Zakho Tourism Directorate has formed a committee to assess the scale of the financial damages caused by the flood.
Another tourist attraction that was also damaged due to the most recent deluge is the Sheranshe waterfall resort.
"This year's floods inflicted severe financial damage on the Sheranshe resort. I have lost $10,000 to $15,000 in damages," said Rawand Mahmood, owner of the Sheranshe waterfall resort. "We were about to make preparations for the Eid [al-Fitr]. Unfortunately, our resort will not be ready to welcome tourists during Eid."
Last week's torrential downpour caused flash floods that killed three people in Duhok, with the bodies of two of the victims remaining unaccounted for.
At least 11 other people were injured and hundreds of others were left homeless. More than 160 houses and 50 vehicles were damaged in the natural disaster.
Heavy rains also showered the Kurdistan Region’s capital of Erbil, with last Wednesday being declared a public holiday in both Erbil and Duhok provinces.
Rising water levels during the rainy seasons of fall and winter have become a common occurrence in the Kurdistan Region in recent years, at times reaching dangerous levels and resulting in casualties and massive material damage.
