Heavy rains flood displacement camps in Gaza, damaging thousands of tents

Heavy rains and winds flooded displacement camps in the Gaza Strip, damaging tents and leaving families without dry shelter. Reports indicate tens of thousands of tents were flooded within 12 hours, and civil defense received numerous distress calls. Five people were injured by collapsing walls.

Heavy rains and winds that have hit the Gaza Strip since Friday night flooded displacement camps, damaged tents, and left families without dry shelter. Hamas reported that about 70,000 tents were flooded within 12 hours, estimating initial direct damage at about $3 million. The Civil Defense in the Strip said it received 2,166 distress calls since the start of the weather system but was able to respond in the field to only 218. The organization's spokesman, Mahmoud Basal, said that displacement camps, shelter centers, and entire areas were flooded, and in some places the water level reached about one and a half meters. According to him, the lack of equipment and rescue means forced teams to make do with remote guidance for many of the families. The floods affected, among other places, tents in the area of Gaza City port, west of Deir al-Balah, north of the Nuseirat camp, and areas in Jabalia and Beit Lahia. The Gaza City municipality reported that about 60 mm of rain fell in the city, about 15% of the annual average, and that the destruction of infrastructure limits the ability to drain water. Medical sources said that five Palestinians were injured in incidents that included the collapse of two walls of previously damaged buildings and the fall of a tin sheet. The Palestinian Red Crescent spokesman called for international intervention and the entry of equipment. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories reported that four additional pumping trucks were brought into the Strip last week.