Authorities in Syria and Iraq have issued evacuation orders for areas along the Euphrates after heavy rain and upstream water releases in Turkey raised fears of flooding.
An alert issued by Syria’s Ministry of Relief and Crisis Management on Tuesday urged people to stay away from the banks of the river, and warned that rising water levels posed a threat to homes and farmland.
People living next to the Euphrates, particularly in low-lying areas, were urged to leave their homes and take “maximum precautions to ensure safety,” Syrian Civil Defence was quoted as saying by state news agency Sana.
Syria's Energy Ministry said authorities at the Tabqa Dam, 40km upstream from the city of Raqqa, had opened its spillway gates to relieve a build-up of pressure that threatened the structure.
The dam’s management attributed the increase in pressure to heavy seasonal rainfall this year and to Turkey releasing a massive volume of water from upstream reservoirs in recent days, significantly increasing the river's flow into northern and eastern Syria.
The city council in Maadan, in Raqqa province, closed a bridge across the river as a precautionary measure after the appearance of holes and cracks “as a result of the rising water levels and their impact on the bridge’s structure and the road leading to it”, Sana reported.
In Deir Ezzor, rising water swept away parts of an earthen bridge across the Euphrates, forcing residents to rely on small boats to move around the city.
The river flows east through Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces before entering Iraq's Anbar province, where local officials have also raised the alarm over potential flooding.
“Anbar Governor Omar Mishan Dabbous has declared a state of full alert for 72 hours, warning of an upcoming wave of torrents and devastating floods coming from the Syrian border through the town of Al Qaim,” the provincial council said on Tuesday.
“The Governor has instructed operational commands and public service departments to immediately deploy to low-lying areas and evacuate residents at risk to safeguard lives, while redirecting water towards the Al Warrar canal system to absorb the surge.”
Iraq has also experienced heavy rain this year after years of drought. A downpour in March, followed by several spells in April, brought 70mm of rain, reviving parts of the Hawizeh Marshes in the country's south-east, an area known for its wildlife including a sizeable water buffalo population.
