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Kurdistan
The impact of devastating flooding in Erbil’s Zerin city, taken on October 31, 2021. Photo: Dilan Sirwan / Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Wednesday marks the final day of providing compensation to the families affected by heavy flooding in Erbil in October, the city’s governor told media outlets, adding that the amount of money collected for the devastating damage caused by further flooding in December is not even half of what is needed.
Erbil’s Governor Omed Khoshnaw on Wednesday addressed media outlets in a press conference where he announced that the final stage of compensating families affected by the devastating floods of October 30 had been reached.
According to data provided to the press by Khoshnaw, 826 families were affected by the flood and 314 cars were damaged. According to the damage assessment, the cost of the flooding amounted to over 5.8 billion dinars (around $3.95 million).
Khoshnaw added that the amount of money collected from donors stood at 4.46 billion dinars (around $3.01 million), and the remaining amount was allocated by the Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.
Several of Erbil’s neighborhoods suffered from heavy flooding as the province saw its first intense rainfall of the year at the end of October. Several houses suffered material damage, and stalling vehicles blocked flooded main roads.
Despite the government and the Kurdistan Region presidency offering their support to the families affected, less than two months later, Erbil was hit by yet another flood, this time causing even greater damages.
The floods, which affected several southeastern neighborhoods and sub-districts in Erbil province on December 17, took the lives of twelve people, including a teenage boy, ten-month-old baby, and two foreigners.
The Minister of Municipality and Tourism at the time assessed the cost of damages caused by the second flood as more than 21 billion dinars (over $14 million). Despite Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani allocating one billion Iraqi dinars (around $675,000) to the affected people, according to Khoshnaw, less than half of the total amount has been collected as of Wednesday.
The governor added that the amount of money donated so far stands at 6.5 billion dinars (around $4.4 million), excluding the two billion dinars offered by the Iraqi government. The reason for this, according to Khoshnaw, is because authorities rejected the amount for being insubstantial, calling on Baghdad to revise their decision.
Erbil province often faces severe floods in the colder seasons of the year. In the past years, several neighborhoods of Erbil have faced severe damages due to floods.
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