Flooding brings more misery to Gaza with shelters inundated by rainwater and sewage

Damaged drainage systems are overwhelmed, leaving homes submerged and families freezing

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  A girl walks through a flooded street following overnight rain at the refugee camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir Al Balah. AP

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  Brothers Belal, five, and Mohammed Hamad, seven, collect water from their flooded family tent. AP

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  A woman keeps warm under blankets. AFP

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  Children carry buckets of water. AP

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  A woman takes shelter from the rain. AFP

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  People try to dislodge water from the roof of their shelter. AFP

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  People sit on beds as water pools at their feet at a field hospital. Reuters

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Gaza woke up to further devastation on Tuesday after heavy rain battered the enclave overnight, submerging tents and shelters that house thousands of displaced families in a mixture of rain and sewage.

Civil defence authorities declared a state of emergency, overwhelmed by calls for help from Gazans whose makeshift homes were swallowed by flooding.

“There are cases of drowning caused by the floods, and water mixed with sewage has overflowed in multiple areas across the Gaza Strip,” Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for civil defence authorities, told The National.

“Unfortunately, we cannot respond to all the distress calls due to a lack of resources and specialised equipment for these emergencies. Adding to the challenge, we are severely short on fuel, which limits our ability to mobilise vehicles.”

Hundreds of shelters and thousands of tents, along with other homes already damaged from more than a year of war, were inundated, the Civil Defence Directorate reported.

“Our teams can do little more than evacuate citizens from their damaged shelters to other locations, which are often also unfit for habitation,” Mr Basal said. “Families remain exposed to the elements, under pouring rain and in freezing conditions.”

A Palestinian clears water from his tent at a camp in Gaza city. AFP

Most temporary shelters in Gaza are erected on unstable, sandy soil, which quickly becomes waterlogged. Civil defence officials urged the international community to take immediate action to help.

Tahani Masoud, a 31-year-old mother of two living in a tent in central Gaza, said her family did not have mattresses, blankets or any means of keeping warm.

“Last night and this morning, the rain was so heavy that we were literally drowning,” she told The National. “My children, aged four and two, coughed all night, their little bodies never warming up, not even for a minute.”

“Imagine sewage water flooding into our tent, not just rainwater. The sewage systems have overflowed, and the stench is unbearable. It’s like the Israelis are determined to kill us in every possible way. And here, no one feels our suffering – everyone just watches as we live through this agony.”

In Gaza city, drainage and sewerage systems, heavily damaged by the war, cannot cope with rain. More than 175,000 metres of sewerage networks and 15,000 metres of stormwater drainage systems have been destroyed by Israeli bombing.

Most temporary shelters are erected on sandy soil, which quickly becomes waterlogged. AFP

Asim Al Nabih, a spokesperson for the city's municipal authorities, said: “The situation in the tents is beyond imagination. Diseases are spreading amidst the rain, and we lack the means to help the displaced or alleviate their suffering. Since the start of the war, the municipality has been repeatedly targeted and has received no new aid or equipment to support the displaced.

“We lack the infrastructure to handle the volume of rainwater or operational facilities for treating sewage. Every aspect of this crisis is a tragedy, and those in tents bear the brunt of it.”

Saed Al Za’anin, a 38-year-old father of four, has been living in a tent in Al Shati camp in Gaza city for two months, after fleeing his home in Beit Lahia.

“Since we moved into the tent, we haven’t known a single moment of relief. The kids haven’t gone a day without getting sick,” he told The National.

“The cold is unbearable. Rainwater seeps into the tent while we sleep, soaking our bodies and leaving us vulnerable to illnesses like colds, coughs, the flu and stomach infections. The contamination makes it worse. The tent is a death trap. It’s nothing but misery, fear and illness.”