ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Heavy rainfall and flash floods have damaged thousands of dunams of farmland in Syria’s eastern provinces of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa, submerging crops and threatening farmers’ livelihoods as authorities assess the losses and consider support measures, state media reported on Monday.
The flooding, triggered by a low-pressure weather system that swept across the country over the past two days, affected agricultural areas in al-Kubar town in eastern Deir ez-Zor and Hazima in northern Raqqa, according to Syria’s state-run SANA news agency.
Muhammad Issa al-Khalifa, head of the agricultural extension unit in Al-Kubar, told SANA that floodwaters submerged approximately 2,500 dunums of farmland cultivated with wheat, barley, sesame, corn and winter vegetables, as well as olive groves.
Over the past few days, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor have experienced torrential rainfall accompanied by hail and powerful downburst winds, triggering flash floods, overflowing wadis and disrupting several main and secondary roads.
The latest flooding comes amid a broader humanitarian emergency across Syria, where severe weather has claimed at least seven lives, including five children, and left several people missing, according to Emergency and Disaster Management Minister Raed al-Saleh.
“We have recorded the deaths of seven people, including five children who drowned in pools of water formed by the floods and a man who died in a traffic accident caused by the flooding,” Saleh said in a post on X on Friday.
Flooding has also prompted the evacuation of two schools accommodating more than 350 students and 375 families from displacement camps in Raqqa, according to Saleh. He said rescue teams had rescued 60 civilians whose vehicles were trapped by floodwaters, while search operations continued for the missing.
In Raqqa province, Abdullah al-Afar, head of the agricultural extension unit in Hazima, said inspection teams were surveying agricultural areas affected by thunderstorms and strong winds in recent days.
Affected farmers have called for compensation for their agricultural losses and preventive measures to mitigate the recurring threat of flooding to farmland and residential areas, according to SANA.
Khalil al-Youssef, a farmer from Raqqa, called for damaged areas to be repaired and drainage canals to be regularly cleared and dredged to facilitate rainwater runoff and safeguard agricultural land against future flooding.
The severe weather has affected 10 Syrian provinces, including Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Hasaka, Hama, Idlib, Homs, Latakia, Tartous and Daraa.
The latest disaster follows severe flooding along the Euphrates River between late May and early June, which affected more than 27,000 people in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, displaced thousands and damaged critical infrastructure, including more than 60 water stations, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
