Child Missing as Storm Wrecks Syrian Refugee Camps in Lebanon
Heavy rains and snow wrecked several informal settlements housing Syrian refugees in Lebanon and left thousands in need of emergency assistance, aid workers said on Tuesday, as a toddler girl was reported missing.
The Syrian child went missing in the Minieh-al-Dhour area in the North after she was swept away by flash floods from outside her home to nearby valleys, the National News Agency said, adding that she is yet to be found despite strenuous search efforts.
“The 8-year-old child was playing with her sister on the street before being swept away by the floods,” NNA said.
Some of the worst affected were the refugees living in Arsal, a mountainous border area in northeastern Lebanon where the roofs of rudimentary shacks caved under the weight of the snow.
"Look at this weather, we are cut off from everything, the tent has collapsed, we turn to God," one refugee there told AFP as snow flakes landed on her black head dress.
"The storm arrived yesterday and more than one meter of snow has fallen," another refugee said. "There's no food, no bread, and the road has been closed since yesterday."
Snowfall is not unusual in the area but Lebanon has in recent days been hit by a prolonged patch of severe weather and a storm dubbed "Norma".
Schools closed across the country, roads were cut off by flooding and pools of water formed in major underpasses in Beirut, wreaking traffic chaos across the capital.
Lebanon hosts an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees, many of whom live in informal settlements that have little or no infrastructure.
The United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) said emergency measures had been put in place to rescue stranded families and help those suffering from the cold.
"Across Lebanon, at least 66 informal settlements have been found heavily impacted by the flooding, 15 of which have completely flooded or collapsed," Lisa Abou Khaled, a spokesperson for the UNHCR, said.
"Around 300 people have been relocated so far in the north and the (eastern) Bekaa" region, she told AFP.
She said the UNHCR and its partners were distributing relief items such as new tents, blankets, mattresses and drainage kits.
"UNHCR and partners estimate that approximately 850 informal settlements, hosting 50,000 refugees, are at risk of flooding," Abou Khaled said.
Source: Naharnet, Agence France Presse
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