Iran Press/ Middle East: A downpour of rain showered central Erbil city, leading to speculations of floods similar to the ones the city has been subjected to in the last few months.
“There is no danger of a flood as of now. We will make all the preparations to run to the aid of people and anywhere that might have a problem,” Sarkawt Karash, the spokesperson of Erbil’s civil defense directorate, told Rudaw.
Karash noted that his directorate has so far only received emergency calls from civilians from Erbil’s Zilan neighborhood, which they have since responded to and “fixed the manhole tops,” adding that civilians may contact their hotline number - 115 - in case of any threats of rising water levels.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Transport and Communications in a statement said that, according to their weather forecast, they predict the rain will continue to pour discontinuously throughout the night, and that floods or major damages are unlikely.
The ministry predicted that the effects of the rain will continue up until Friday across all the provinces of the Kurdistan Region, with Sulaimani most affected.
Erbil suffers from an inadequate water supply distribution network and an unsustainable drainage system leading to flooding as sewers often overflow, with sewage escaping and mixing with stormwater.
The city often faces severe floods in the colder seasons of the year. At least 826 families were affected by the December floods, which killed twelve people, including a ten-month-old baby.
The Minister of Municipality and Tourism at the time assessed the cost of damages caused by the second flood as more than $14 million.
Hundreds of houses also suffered material damage in the first strong rainfall of winter in the capital in late October.
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