Saturday would have been another normal day for Abdulaziz, who had moved to the Kurdistan Region from Diyala province eleven years ago. But as he and his family witnessed the first strong rainfall of the year at their house, followed by a wave of hail, they hadn’t anticipated that masses of water would inundate their home located at a less elevated part of Zerin City, a housing compound around 17 km from Erbil’s city center.
"We heard a loud noise and the door outside opened,” Abdulaziz told Rudaw English on Sunday. “Our kitchen was flooded. We pushed the door closed with my son, but it forced us away and the house was flooded.”
Abdulaziz said the only option he, his young child and wife had consisted of climbing up the stairs to the shelter of their neighbor's house.
Following a summer of drought, Erbil had its first intense rain of the season on Saturday. Several houses suffered material damage, and stalling vehicles blocked flooded main roads.
Abdulaziz’s rental house in Zerin City costs him 300,000 dinars (around $200). Now, he said, it’s been destroyed by the flood and could collapse any second.
"There is no exit for floods until it gets to the lowest point in the area, and we were the lowest area," he said. "After this, the house is prone to fall.”
His home is one of many that sustained material damage following the flood. Erbil's governor Omed Khoshnaw on Sunday told Rudaw that around 150 to 200 houses have been affected.
Zerin is home to many of Erbil’s lower income families and some Arab families who have sought refuge in the Kurdish capital for security. But after fleeing from war to their new homes, they face natural disaster.
"We were home when the flood came and everything got destroyed. I was only able to get the family out and leave," Asaad Ahmad, who came to Erbil in 2014 from Babel province, told Rudaw. "Thankfully, there was not any damage to us. Only material damage - gold, money and the equipment in the house."
Erbil province often faces severe floods in the colder seasons of the year. In the past years, several neighborhoods of Erbil have faced severe damages due to floods.
Khoshnaw said that the owner of the company that built the Zerin compound had been arrested.
"He had made some changes in the project without informing us that has led to the increase of the flood,” the governor added.
According to Abdulaziz, the contracted company had filled up a waterway meant to divert excess rainwater to build more residential buildings. Following the flood on Saturday, residents of Zerin City stormed the company’s office.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said on Sunday that they are closely looking into the areas affected by the flood and have tasked teams to help those affected.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani visited Zerin City and Korean Village on Sunday. He said in a tweet that he “reassured them of our utmost support at this time.”
