Floods kill five, including four children, in Syria; five missing

Five people, including four children, have died and five others are missing after heavy rain and flash floods hit several Syrian provinces, the Emergency and Disaster Management Ministry said Thursday, according to Anadolu Agency.

The deaths were recorded in the countryside of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. The missing were reported in rural areas of Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo, Syria’s SANA news agency reported.

Search operations are continuing in coordination with the relevant authorities, the ministry said.

Civil Defense teams rescued 25 people who were trapped by floodwaters or stranded in vehicles in Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Homs. Emergency teams remain deployed in affected areas, responding to distress calls and helping civilians.

In Deir ez-Zor, Syrian army helicopters took part in efforts to rescue people stranded by floodwaters and blocked roads. Military helicopters rescued two people caught in flooding along the Deir ez-Zor-Palmyra road, SANA reported.

Hundreds of families evacuated from camps

Emergency and Disaster Management Minister Raed al-Saleh said earlier that ministry teams were on alert because of the heavy rain and flooding. The alert covered Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Hasakah, Hama, Homs and Latakia provinces, Alikhbariah TV reported.

By 11:30 pm (2030 GMT) Wednesday, Civil Defense teams had carried out 165 field responses, rescued 15 civilians and evacuated 375 families from flood-hit camps, the ministry said.

The families were evacuated from the Sahlat al-Banat, Al-Younani and Al-Maqas camps in the Raqqa countryside after rainwater flooded the sites.

Emergency teams received more than 350 reports. Flooding also put seven bridges, culverts and dirt roads out of service, according to the ministry.

More than 100 families were trapped in the Kasrat Surur area in rural Raqqa after a dirt culvert collapsed, prompting an emergency response.

Teams pumped and drained water from more than 150 homes and public facilities, including two hospitals, schools and bakeries.

Heavy thunderstorms accompanied by hail and strong winds affected large parts of Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor, as well as eastern Homs, Hama and Aleppo.

The rain caused floods and waterways to overflow, cutting roads and damaging public facilities as rescue and emergency operations continued.