Homes in Gaza flooded as Storm Daniel hits Palestine

Houses were flooded in the Gaza Strip as Storm Daniel struck the enclave in the early hours of today bringing with it torrential downpours, officials said.

A number of houses were submerged by rainwater, reporters said.

The spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defence Service in Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, said: “Our crews dealt with dozens of tasks as a result of the storm that struck the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning.”

“Many homes were flooded and trees were uprooted by rainwater,” Basal added.

“As the storm started heading towards Gaza, the civil defense raised the level of readiness to cope with all possible events,” the official explained.

The Palestinian Meteorology Department also warned citizens of “the chance of torrential rains in some areas.”

READ: Libya floods wipe out quarter of city, 10,000 feared missing

Storm Daniel swept several areas in eastern Libya on Sunday, most notably the cities of Benghazi, Bayda, and Al Marj, as well as Soussa and Derna. More than 6,000 people have died and many remain unaccounted for after floods caused by the huge storm burst dams, swept away buildings and wiped out as much as a quarter of the eastern city of Derna.

Some 10,000 people are missing, with the Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh announcing that the biggest challenge will be recovering bodies which have been swept into the sea by the torrents.