Death toll of flash floods in Kurdistan Region's Erbil rises to 11

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Omed Khoshnaw, governor of the Kurdistan Region's province of Erbil told Kurdistan 24 on Friday afternoon that the official death toll from flash floods early that morning had gone from eight to 11. 

Heavy rainfall beginning late Thursday night has caused flooding across neighborhoods and rural outskirts of Erbil, causing significant material damage to property, homes, and vehicles.

Read More: Flooding, lightning kill at least 8 in Erbil outskirts: Governor

Khoshnaw told Kurdistan 24 earlier on Friday that a number of private residences had sustained “significant damage,” and that seven of the eight victims being reported at the time had been killed by the actual flooding, while the last died after being struck by lightning.

Among the victims is 10-month-old Danar Nabaz, who is missing as a result of the flooding and is presumed dead. Local authorities have reported that rescue teams have been deployed and are searching for the infant's body.

“I'm deeply saddened by the loss of lives and damage caused by last night's heavy rain and flood,” wrote Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in a statement, adding that he had “instructed all government agencies to provide immediate support and relief to areas affected.”

This is the second recent instance of flash flooding in Erbil, with the previous occurrence at the end of October that also caused significant property damage.

Read More: Saturday’s flash floods destroyed 130 cars in Erbil: Official

Post-rain flooding is a perennial issue in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq as a whole, caused in large part by insufficient infrastructure, including inefficient or poorly-maintained rural or urban rainwater management and sewage systems.

Speaking to Kurdistan 24, top regional weather authority Fazil Ibrahim said that Erbil province witnessed just over 73 mm of rainfall over a period of three to four hours.