Sunday, 19 October 2014

Lebanon flooding forces residents to flee, strands motorists


BEIRUT: Flooding caused by heavy rain swept through homes and disappeared roads across Lebanon early Sunday, causing some panicked residents to seek refuge, while defense forces scrambled to rescue those stranded.


About 50 families from the village of Qarsita in the northern district of Dinnieh had to evacuate their homes overnight because of the floods, the National News Agency reported.


Many homes were inundated with water, mud and rock. The roads to the village were completely blocked by the floods, and only a few entrances were partially reopened Sunday morning.


The heavy rain also caused a water crisis in the area, as springs and streams became contaminated with debris, the NNA added. All the homes were either completely cut off from their water supply, or were receiving polluted water.


Further north, in Akkar, the Lebanese Red Cross relocated dozens of Syrian families from villages and towns damaged by flooding. The Disaster Management Unit of the Red Cross also surveyed the needs of 140 Syrian families and 40 Lebanese families affected by the flooding.


Motorists posted photos of the scenes of the flooding online. One picture posted on the Traffic Management Center’s official Twitter page showed the Antelias-Bikfaya highway covered in soil, rocks and water. Another picture from the area of Joumhour showed cars stuck in pools of water as a giant civil defense forces truck tried to pull them out.


In Mount Lebanon, vehicles were stuck under the Mazraat Yachouh Bridge. Waist-high waters prompted civil defense units to help rescue those stranded.


Northern winter winds coming in from Russia have led to an overall decrease in temperatures as well rainy and stormy weather, according to the meteorology department at Beirut’s international airport.


The department forecast a cloudy Sunday, heavy with rainfall and intermittent storms. Sunday evening is expected to be very windy, which causes elevated sea levels.


However, the weather will improve late Sunday night, as rainfall levels begin to decrease. Regions in the Bekaa Valley and north Lebanon above an altitude of 1,800 meters may witness slight snow fall Sunday night.



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