Flooding in southern city displaces hundreds

Hundreds of people have been displaced by severe floods in the southern city of Safwan, some 45 km southwest of Basra. "A torrential rainstorm saw five inches of rainfall in three hours,” said Munadhil Shnen, head of the Safwan Municipality. “More than 1,000 residents were forced to leave their homes and take shelter in a local community hall. The rain occurred for two continuous days on 11 and 12 January. Makeshift camps for the displaced have been provided by the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. "The IRCS-Basra, in cooperation with UNHCR, has provided displaced people with tents to live in,” said Haitham Essa, head of the IRCS offices in Basra. “We have more than 46 families, or 250 people, in the camp." According to Essa, approximately 70 homes were destroyed by rising floodwaters that reached up to 1.5 metres in height. In some cases, families’ vital stores of food were also swept away. “We’re now providing those in the camp with daily food items from IRCS stocks, but we can’t do this forever due to our limited capabilities," Essa noted. "We’ve also provided them with some vital non-food items, like kerosene heaters, blankets and warm clothing.” Um Mohammed, a 42-year old resident of Safwan, described the deluge: "It was raining all night, and in the morning the flood came and destroyed the walls. We didn’t have enough time to take anything but our children.” While the municipal council has worked with the Basra governorate to drain the streets of the city, several neighbourhoods are still reportedly flooded. Many of those who lost property, meanwhile, have expressed frustration with the government’s slow response to the emergency, and some are demanding monetary compensation. "We have nowhere to go,” said Safwan resident and flood victim Ali Hussain. “The government should compensate the affected families because they have lost everything."