4 killed as intense storm devastates Duhok, Iraq

At least four people have been killed, one is still missing and about 30 were injured after a surprisingly strong storm caused devastating flash floods in the city of Duhok and surrounding region in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on May 5, 2018.

A low atmospheric pressure system led to heavy rain and thunderstorms with more than 50 mm (1.96 inches) of rain in the center of Duhok in just one hour, the Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA) said.

According to Duhok Civil Defense, the floods devastated the center of the city of Duhok and surrounding regions, damaging or destroying as many as 100 homes and 30 cars. The majority of the damage was close to the Hishkaro River, Civil Defence said.

The four people killed were members of two families – a father and his son and a husband and wife – who were traveling from Baradarash town to Duhok in one taxi. The car they were in was swept up in the flooding near Fahidiya town, east Duhok. The fate of the taxi driver is not immediately known.

"What happened last night was a surprise," Sharqi Sleman, a police official in Duhok said. "The province’s meteorological department had not informed us of a weather alert in advance so that they could warn the population. Nobody thought it would cause such flash flooding," he said.

Featured image: Flash floods devastate Duhok, Iraq on May 5, 2018. Credit: Waar Media