Hundreds of Syrian refugees had to be evacuated Saturday morning from informal settlements in north Lebanon due to heavy floods, which also destroyed a bridge in the northern region.
On its Twitter account, the Lebanese Red Cross said it evacuated 90 Syrians living in an informal refugee camp in the northern town of Halba after floods destroyed their tents.
The National News Agency reported that Civil Defense teams had also relocated some 200 Syrian refugee families in Akkar to safer areas and helped them settle in warehouses and tents nearby.
The stormy weather flooded dozens of roads in north Lebanon, particularly in remote villages such as Fnaydeq, Meshmesh and Qornah, isolating the towns from the main highway.
A rapidly rising river in the northern region of Akkar flooded a few houses in Burj al-Arab as well as vehicles parked outside the homes.
Civil Defense personnel and municipality workers in Burj al-Arab helped evacuate some of the residents whose homes were flooded and began cleaning the roads.
Burj al-Arab Mayor Aref Shakhaydem criticized the Public Works Ministry for neglecting the northern region, especially after the municipality had contacted the ministry about cleaning the river that runs through the town.
The seasonal rains also caused the collapse of a bridge connecting Sfeira and Kfardebian in north Lebanon and several residents fled the region as a result.
The Lebanese Agriculture Research Institute cautioned farmers and citizens that the coming days would witness extreme weather conditions and possible flooding in several regions.
It advised farmers to spray organic fertilizers and trim trees, especially olive trees, before the storm returns Saturday evening.
In its statement, the institute said that 125 millimeters of rain had fallen in the north in last 24 hours.
Source & Link: The Daily Star
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