Gaza’s First Winter Storm Floods 70,000 Tents, Early Losses Near $3 Million

Gaza: Some 70,000 tents sheltering displaced Palestinians were submerged within 12 hours of the first winter storm of the season, Gaza’s government media office said in a statement issued on Saturday. It put the initial losses at about $3 million.

According to the office, dozens of walls collapsed and people were injured, while the risk of collapse is rising for buildings already showing cracks. It blamed Israel for the crisis, saying the closure of crossings and the blocking of shelter and reconstruction materials had caused the disaster. It called on the international community and United Nations agencies to intervene urgently.

Gaza’s civil defence said its teams received about 1,500 emergency calls in the 10 hours after the rain began. The water level rose by 30 to 40 centimetres in several shelters, and some shelter centres were completely flooded, forcing people inside to leave, spokesman Mahmoud Basal said. He said premature babies, the elderly and the sick were at greatest risk.

In the central area of Nuseirat, residents of a partially collapsed building were evacuated. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that two people were injured when a wall of a building fell in northern Gaza.

Head of civil defence Raed al-Dahshan said his agency did not have a single tarpaulin or tent, and was only able to rescue lives. Gaza’s emergency committee said more than one million displaced people were facing severe cold, and about 200,000 tents were needed along with heating supplies. Aid organisations blame Israeli restrictions for delays in the arrival of shelter materials.

Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, said the hospital’s emergency department was shut for about four hours because of flooding. He warned that dirty water in the tents could lead to rising stomach, respiratory and skin infections.