Heavy rains cause flooding in camps sheltering Palestinians

A child fills a bucket with rainwater after makeshift tents are flooded due to rain as Palestinians, who left their homes to protect themselves from Israeli bombardment, struggle with hard living conditions in Rafah, Gaza on January 27, 2024. [Abed Zagout – Anadolu Agency]

Heavy rains in the Gaza Strip have exacerbated the suffering of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in tents and shelter centers, Anadolu Agency reports.

Water from Friday’s rains flooded thousands of camps inundating the belongings of the residents and leaving them without blankets and warm clothes.

Palestinian Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal told Anadolu: “Heavy rains inundated many low-lying areas in Gaza.”

“We received more than a thousand warnings about flooded tents and homes in various governorates of Gaza,” he added.

“What hinders the work of civil defense crews is the lack of the necessary amounts of fuel to operate rainwater pumps and move rescue vehicles to flooded areas,” the spokesman said.

With water standing in the tents, diseases are likely to be spread, he added.

Hosni Muhanna, coordinator of the Union of Gaza Strip Municipalities, said rainwater mixed with sewage was overflowing the Sheikh Radwan and Abu Rashid ponds, north of Gaza City.

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