Homes of Earthquake survivors in Northwestern Syria destroyed by Floods.
A heavy storm that struck northwestern Syria late on Saturday caused damage to dozens of camps for displaced people due to flooding.
The western countryside of Idlib province experienced heavy rain overnight, causing damage to hundreds of shelters, including newly established ones for the survivors of the earthquakes that occurred on February 6. The White Helmets reported that some roads were also impassable due to the flooding.
An official from the Syria Civil Defence informed that camps in Hafsarjah and Bishmaroun towns suffered flooding, and shops collapsed in Adwan village. Additionally, camps in the western and northeastern countryside of Aleppo were also impacted.
Munir Al-Mustafa, the deputy director of Syria Civil Defence, stated that over 40 camps, established to accommodate those impacted by the earthquake, were affected by the heavy rains, resulting in over 700 damaged tents, the collapse of several shops, a minor injury to a child, and blockage of various roads in towns and cities.
According to Al-Mustafa, over 300 tents in 20 camps for earthquake survivors were damaged due to the lack of proper protection from winter storms as they were hastily set up.
“The tragedy experienced by displaced people cannot be solved by providing temporary services to them in camps, because tragedies can be endless and deprive people of the right to live safely in their homes. Rather, the only solution is to provide safety for civilians to return to their homes, and that would also diminish the need for humanitarian and relief support,” al-Mustafa said.
Askarah al-Muhammad said that she and her three daughters had to flee their tent in Adwan camp in Sahl al-Rouj when it began to flood overnight.
“I was with my daughters inside the tent when rain started seeping into the tent and sweeping away all our things. We ran outside the camp without taking anything out of the tent with us,” 50-year-old al-Muhammad said.
Al-Muhammad said she lost contact with her daughters for hours amid the chaos before she located them on Sunday in a home in a nearby village, where they had fled overnight.
“It was a very difficult night. On the one hand, I was shivering from the cold, and my back hurt because I have back problems. On the other hand, I was thinking about my daughters and what might have happened to them,” Al-Muhammad said.
“I can’t believe the calamities that befall us successively, because today I lost everything inside my tent, and I do not know how I would be able to replace them. I am unable to perform any work duties because of my illness and my age.”
The director of the Adwan camp, Abu Abdullah, told that most of the families who live in the camp, which is located in a low area, are displaced from the town of Qalaat al-Madiq in the western countryside of Hama province.
“Some 223 families out of 240 families who live in the camp are now homeless as a result of the torrential rains,” said Abu Abdullah.
“All camp residents were transferred to schools and mosques of the villages near the camp as a temporary solution, pending consideration of our situation by international organisations to rebuild the camp and provide urgent assistance.”
The stormy weather was expected to continue on Sunday and the region was forecast to see a drop in temperatures, according to meteorologists.