Authorities in Kurdistan's Duhok warn against mountain hikes, amid heavy snowfall

“Our teams are constantly working to open the roads that the residents take.”
Ser-zir area in Kurdistan Region’s Amedi district, Jan. 29, 2021. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)
Ser-zir area in Kurdistan Region’s Amedi district, Jan. 29, 2021. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Local authorities in Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province have warned the public against going to the area’s mountains, which have witnessed heavy snowfall since last Thursday.

Temperatures across the Kurdistan Region have hovered around zero degrees Celcius recently, with the harsher mountainous regions experiencing heavy bouts of snowfall, further exacerbating the cold weather.

Weather conditions in Duhok’s Kani Masi sub-district, Amedi district led to road blockages as snow levels reached around 30 centimeters. In the Ser-zir sub-district, there were between 40 and 70 centimeters of snow.

Ser-zir area in Kurdistan Region’s Amedi district, Jan. 29, 2021. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)
Ser-zir area in Kurdistan Region’s Amedi district, Jan. 29, 2021. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

“Our teams are constantly working to open the roads that the residents take,” Nashwan Yahya, the head of Duhok’s Roads Directorate, told Kurdistan 24.

The snow often attracts citizens and tourists, but these trips may be fraught with many dangers, especially after a number of people were trapped yesterday in Mount Gara due to the heavy snowfall.

Yahya said that the mayor of Amedi had informed him at 02:30 a.m. that people were trapped on Mount Gara due to the tough conditions. Rescue teams had immediately deployed to the area to evacuate the stranded people.

“We have repeatedly mentioned that during snowfall, people should not go to the mountains, especially Mount Gara, because the length of the road is 16 kilometers, which takes a long time to clear from snow,” the Duhok official explained.

Most of the snowfalls in the Kurdistan Region are in December, January, or February, and with the exception of a few mountain areas they rarely accumulate for a long period.

Editing by Khrush Najari