Rain, floods wipe out 11 refugee camps in N. Syria

By Burak Karacaoglu

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - Heavy rainfall on Thursday caused severe flooding in rural areas of northern Syria, destroying tents at 11 refugee camps and leaving tens of thousands of people to face the winter without shelter.

According to information compiled by Anadolu Agency correspondents in Syria, the flood has left an estimated 25,000 refugees searching for shelter at other camps.

No casualties have yet been reported as a result of the flooding, but numerous heads of livestock have reportedly perished.

Requests for emergency assistance have so far been received from the Atme, Qah, Omar and Khirbat al-Jawz refugee camps in the northwestern Latakia province.

Mustafa Yusuf, director of Syria’s White Helmets civil-defense organization, told Anadolu Agency that the organization had received numerous requests for urgent assistance.

“Since yesterday afternoon, our agency has been conducting search-and-rescue operations,” Yusuf said Thursday.

The Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), for its part, has announced that temporary shelters would soon be erected with the help of several local NGOs.