Iraqi PM orders emergency aid as devastating flash floods hit Kurdistan

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Wednesday ordered urgent support for people affected by the heavy rains and deadly flash floods in the Kurdistan Region.

In a statement on X, the Iraqi premier’s office quoted him as directing the National Center for Crisis and Disaster Management, affiliated with the federal interior ministry, and other relevant authorities “to provide assistance and support.” He further instructed Baghdad’s finance ministry “to allocate an emergency fund to meet all relief needs of our people in the Kurdistan Region,” who were impacted by “harsh climatic conditions that caused a severe wave of floods."

For his part, Shakhawan Abdullah, Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, on Wednesday urged the federal government in Baghdad to "compensate the citizens affected by the floods and torrents" in several cities across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

He further "extended his condolences and sympathy to the families and relatives of the citizens who, unfortunately, lost their lives due to the severe torrential floods and heavy rains that swept through the Chamchamal district [in the Kurdistan Region's eastern Sulaimani province] and the Laylan sub-district in Kirkuk province."

Late on Tuesday, Kurdish authorities told Rudaw the final death toll from flash floods rose to three, with at least 12 others injured.

Sarkawt Karash, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region’s Civil Defense Directorate, said that two people were killed in Chamchamal district in Sulaimani. They were identified as 72-year-old Omar Saeed Amin and 22-year-old Basharat Sharif.

Meanwhile, Ramk Ramazan, mayor of Chamchamal, told Rudaw that “the number of injured has risen to 12 so far.”

Residents in Chamchamal told Rudaw’s reporter on the ground, Hiwa Hussamadin, that 11-year-old Karzan Abdulla and 9-year-old Chra Mohammed have gone missing amid the floods. 

In the northern Kirkuk province, a young girl named Bayar Eisa also drowned. She was laid to rest later in the day.

Flooding in previous years has caused deaths, major damage, and vehicles being swept away in the Kurdistan Region. In May last year, at least five people died in flash floods.

The Kurdistan Region Meteorology Directorate warned on Monday that heavy rain in Erbil and Sulaimani on Tuesday could lead to flash floods and higher water levels. The province of Halabja in the east, the administrations of Soran and Raparin in the northeast, and Garmiyan in the south of the Kurdistan Region have all been advised to prepare for severe rainfall, with conditions expected to ease by Wednesday.

Authorities across the Region have been on high alert since the weekend and are urging caution until mid-Wednesday.