Kurdistan calls for federal gov't support following flood losses

This aerial view shows a neighbourhood in the area of Daratu, on the outskirts of Arbil, the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region, on December 17, 2021, after flash floods caused by torrential rains left eight people dead [AFP via Getty Images]

Recent floods and torrential rains which swept across 15 areas in Erbil have caused 21 billion Iraqi dinars (about $15 million) in losses, provisional Governor of the Kurdistan region, Omed Khoshnaw, announced yesterday.

Khoshnaw told reporters that his country had cancelled New Year celebrations “in solidarity with the affected families,” calling on the Iraqi federal government to support Erbil from “your emergency budget.”

“The floods have caused heavy material damage in 15 neighbourhoods of Erbil, and left 12 dead,” the official said. He explained that the financial damage had amounted to 20-21 billion Iraqi dinars, noting that the floods had also harmed agricultural lands, sewage networks, streets and sidewalks.

READ: Bleak future awaits MENA if climate change effects not tackled

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.