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Flood leaves Gaza in ruins, UN declares state of emergency
An
estimated 100,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged as the streets
of Gaza City. They were flooded with water and sewage after a week of
torrential downpours, prompting the UN Palestinian refugee agency to
declare a state of emergency in the area.
Forced
out of their homes, thousands of Palestinians are now sleeping in
classrooms and makeshift shelters after a massive weeklong storm
ravaged the region, reports the Ma’an News Agency. This includes
the nearly 30,000 who had been staying at emergency housing after
Israel’s 51-day summer offensive.
“The
flooding is exacerbating the already-dire humanitarian situation in
Gaza caused by blockade and the unprecedented destruction from the
latest Israeli offensive,” the
United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) said in a statement
posted on its Facebook page.
As
a result of the flooding, 63 schools across Gaza City and 43 schools
across the Northern Gaza Strip governorate were closed Thursday,
according to the UNRWA. The Washington Post reported that volunteers
are trying to stop the water with mud and sand-filled garbage bags.
Pumping
water out of flooded areas is particularly problematic due to the
severe lack of fuel in the Gaza Strip, aggravated by Israel’s
eight-year blockade. In addition, the area lacks adequate sewer
management facilities, making recovery from the crisis even more
challenging.
On
Wednesday, Gaza major Nizar Hijazi warned residents that the Strip’s
lack of resources could trigger a “humanitarian
catastrophe.”
“The
infrastructure of the Gaza Strip is weak and ill-equipped to receive
any increased rainfall because of the disaster caused by the
increased rainfall last year and the recent war which destroyed a
large part of the Strip,” he
said.
The
UNRWA vowed to provide “emergency
fuel to supply back-up generators for pumping stations, portable
pumps, municipalities, water, sanitation and health facilities” to
combat shortages on Thursday.
Severe
flooding is not unusual for the region. Last December, heavy
rains swamped the
Strip and resulted in the displacement of some 40,000 Palestinians.
Though
international donors pledged $5.4 billion to help rebuild war-torn
Gaza at Cairo summit earlier this fall, reconstruction has not yet
begun. Raed Fattouh, a Palestinian official responsible for the entry
of goods into the Gaza Strip, however, told Ma’an that Israel has
given the go-ahead for the entry of 350 supply trucks into the region
earlier this
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