When the winter-like rains came to northern and eastern Syria, they did what water does when it has nowhere gentle to go: they rose through roads, bridges, and camps that had already been asked to endure too much. Four children and one man were lost to the flood, and five more people, two of them children, are still unaccounted for in the same waters. In a country where the ground has been worn thin by years of displacement, a single collapsed bridge near Tabqa now stands for how fragile the ordinary connections between people and their cities have become.
Flash Floods Kill Five in Syria, Including Four Children, as Bridges Collapse
Five people, including four children, died in the floods; five others, including two children, are missing, and about 375 families were evacuated from camps near Raqqa.
One bridge failed outright, closing the road between Raqqa and Aleppo.
When the winter-like rains came to northern and eastern Syria, they did what water does when it has nowhere gentle to go: they rose through roads, bridges, and camps that had already been asked to endure too much. Four children and one man were lost to the flood, and five more people, two of them children, are still unaccounted for in the same waters. In a country where the ground has been worn thin by years of displacement, a single collapsed bridge near Tabqa now stands for how fragile the ordinary connections between people and their cities have become.
On Thursday, Syria's Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management reported that heavy rain had killed at least five people in the north and east of the country. Four of the dead were children, all drowned in waterways in Raqqa and Deir Az Zor. The fifth was a man whose car was swept away near al-Salmani Bridge in the western Raqqa countryside.
It was the second day the ministry had logged flood responses nationwide, posting updates on its X account. Damage was reported to bridges in Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir Az Zor, Hasakah and Homs. State news agency SANA confirmed that al-Salmani Bridge, west of Tabqa, had collapsed, cutting the Raqqa-Aleppo road.
Rescuers reached 15 civilians whose vehicles had been trapped by the water, and roughly 375 families were moved out of three camps on Raqqa's outskirts. Five people, including two children, remain missing.
The floods follow a difficult year. In June, UNICEF reported that 17,000 people had already been affected, 700 families displaced, and 49 water treatment plants in Deir Az Zor and Raqqa knocked out of service. The search for the missing and the state of water systems in those two governorates are now the questions that matter most.
On Thursday, Syria's Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management reported that heavy rain across several provinces had killed at least five people in the north and east of the country. Four of the dead were children. All four drowned in bodies of water in the governorates of Raqqa and Deir Az Zor, according to the ministry's statement.
The fifth victim was a man whose car was caught in floodwaters near al-Salmani Bridge in the western Raqqa countryside. Five other people, two of them children, remain missing in the storms.
Thursday was the second day the ministry logged emergency responses to flooding nationwide. It has been publishing situation updates on its X account. The ministry reported damage to infrastructure and disruption to several bridges in affected areas, naming Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir Az Zor, Hasakah and Homs.
One of those bridges failed outright. The state news agency SANA reported that al-Salmani Bridge, west of Tabqa, collapsed in the flooding. Its loss closed the road linking Raqqa to Aleppo.
Emergency teams said they rescued 15 civilians whose vehicles were trapped by the water. The ministry also said it evacuated roughly 375 families from three camps on the rural outskirts of Raqqa.
The floods are not new to the country this year. In June, UNICEF reported that 17,000 people had been adversely affected by flooding up to that point in the year. At that time the agency said 700 families had been displaced, including around 2,000 children. It also said 49 water treatment plants in Deir Az Zor and Raqqa governorates had gone out of service.
What to watch next is the search for the five missing people, including two children, and whether the ministry's continuing updates report more casualties or further bridge damage. The earlier UNICEF findings on water treatment plants in the same two governorates point to another concern: how flood damage affects water infrastructure there.
Citas Notables
All four children drowned in bodies of water across Raqqa and Deir Az Zor governorates.— Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management statement (paraphrased)
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