LEBANON-SYRIAN REFUGEES/WINTER Heavy rain floods Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon

Record ID: 274690

  • Title: LEBANON-SYRIAN REFUGEES/WINTER Heavy rain floods Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon
  • Date: 27th November 2014
  • Summary: ZAHLE, LEBANON (NOVEMBER 27, 2014) (REUTERS) CAMP SITE WITH RAIN WATER ON GROUND VARIOUS OF ADULTS AND CHILDREN OUTSIDE TENT CHILDREN WALKING ON MUDDY GROUND CHILD SOAKING HIS FOOT IN A PUDDLE VARIOUS OF CHILDREN WALKING IN MUDDY TRENCH VARIOUS OF CHILDREN WALKING ALONG WET MUDDY STREET CHILD STANDING NEXT TO WOMAN SITTING ON A BUCKET CLOSE OF CHILD'S FACE (SOUNDBITE) (Ara
  • Embargoed: 12th December 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAUSDZHJJG193BSMTYS1WYLB2B
  • Story Text: Syrian refugees surveyed the damage at their camp in northeastern Lebanon on Thursday (November 27) after days of heavy rain caused flooding.
    Although there had been preparations for the winter season at the Al Masaneh settlement, in the city Zahle, rain caused ditches to overflow, flooding the inhabitants tents and belongings.
    Children ventured outside to play in the puddles and mud left around the camp.
    Ahmad Khaled Al Mohamed, a refugee from Idlib province in Syria, said the heaviest rain fell during the night.
    "We woke up to find the mattresses soaking in water and the sleeping children woke up drenched. We had to borrow clothes from our neighbours to dress them,'' he said.
    Humanitarian agencies have raised concerns about the well-being of such refugees, many of whom live in tents with little protection from the rain in remote areas of Lebanon.
    Refugee Firas Mostafa Idris said his tent had been flooded by water from a nearby ditch.
    ''Next to our tent there is a ditch about one metres deep, it overflowed with water and flooded our tent. For three days, it has not stopped raining here not for a second,'' said Firas.
    Other tents additionally suffered from leaking roofs, compounding the problem caused by the floodwater.
    "The water was coming from above and below us, the mattresses were soaked. If anyone cared about us, this would not have happened to us. We are up to our knees in mud,'' said Abu Mohamed.
    A report from the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR on November 13 stated that Lebanon was home to 1.12 million registered Syrian refugees.
    In October, Lebanon, which has the highest per capita concentration of refugees in the world at one in four residents, said it could not cope with more than one million Syrians and has asked for funds to help look after them.
    Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq have taken in more than three million Syrian since the conflict began in 2011, while countries outside the region have agreed to accept around 50,000, or less than 2 percent of the total refugee population.
    Syria's 3.2 million refugees are fleeing a three-year civil war which has killed nearly 200,000 people, according to U.N. figures.
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