Erbil Governor raises flood alert: caused material damages, no casualties

Shafaq News/ The Governor of Erbil, Omed Khoshnaw, has raised the alert level in the aftermath of the flashing floods that slammed Kurdistan's capital city and caused material damages to buildings.

Khoshnaw said in a press conference earlier today, Thursday, "at 0300 am today, dusty rain began to fall. By 0700 am, floods struck some neighborhoods."

"So far, no casualties have been reported," he said, "the civil defense and municipality teams are working to open the roads."

"The volume of the damages was not immediately clear. Some power lines and services sustained some damages."

Khoshnaw said that the weather forecasts anticipated that the rainfall will continue until Friday.

"Therefore, in cooperation with the police, Zerevani, Asayish, Peshmerga, municipalities, and health directorate, the governorate of Erbil announced the status of alert."

The Governor urged the citizens to stay home and report any emergency.

"The Barzani Foundation is an alert status to provide relief to the citizens. The crisis committee in Erbil contacted the private companies to stay stand by."

Khoshnaw said that the governorate administration has allocated funds to compensate the citizens for their losses.