OMM Newsroom
Heavy rain and strong winds have flooded about 70,000 tents in Gaza. Local authorities said displaced Palestinian families were facing cold, hunger and worsening living conditions as winter approached.
Gaza’s Civil Defense agencies declared the highest level of emergency on Saturday, November 7, AnewZ reported. The agency said rescue teams were struggling to cope with the scale of the damage.
Water levels reached 1.5 meters in some areas. Emergency teams received 2,166 calls for help after the storm began on Friday, but responded to only 218 because of limited resources.
Families living in flooded tents
In Nuseirat in central Gaza, families spent the night trying to keep water from entering their temporary shelters. Some tents were flooded, while others were blown away by strong winds.
Displaced resident Mohammed Shaar spent hours bailing water out of his tent with a plastic bucket. His blankets, mattresses and personal belongings were already soaked. The rain began at about 1 a.m. while his family was asleep.
“Our tent was flooded; water poured straight inside,” he said. His 28-year-old daughter, who has a disability, had to sit in the water for hours, he added.
Mohammed Shaar’s son Mustafa said he and his children spent a sleepless night huddled on wet blankets. “We are practically living in the water,” he said, adding that the family’s shelter could not protect them from rain, cold or heat.
Samar Farhat said she spent hours trying to remove water from her tent. “My tent is flooded. Our clothes, mattresses and food are soaked. My husband, who is ill and bedridden, was surrounded by water on all sides,” she said.
Nearby resident Ammar Musbah said he struggled through the night to protect his family as the water rose. Residents in the area dug trenches and built makeshift barriers with the simple tools available to them.
“I carried my children in my arms for 10 hours to keep them safe. Water poured into our tent throughout the night, rising to more than a meter. I spent the night trying to drain it. The tent collapsed and is no longer fit to live in,” Musbah said.
Gaza City Mayor Yahya al-Sarraj called for people to be provided with proper housing as winter approaches. He said tents were unsuitable for both summer and winter and should be replaced with mobile homes and adequate housing units. Al-Sarraj said the Israeli occupation had so far prevented this, while Gaza’s municipalities lacked the necessary equipment and heavy machinery.
Storm damage and calls for assistance
Dozens of walls collapsed across the Gaza Strip and people were injured, according to the Gaza Media Office. The agency estimated the direct damage caused by the storm at about $3 million.
Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan warned that further rainfall and falling temperatures could make conditions even more dangerous for displaced families.
About two million people in Gaza are living in nearly 270,000 tents and temporary shelters, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Between 60% and 85% of them are damaged or unfit for use.
More than 400,000 displaced people live in areas at high risk of flooding or along the coast. Civil Defense agencies called for urgent access to rescue equipment, ambulances and temporary shelters to help families as weather conditions worsen.
