Politics1 min read

‘We woke up soaking wet’: Gaza’s displaced face another winter of floods and collapsed shelters

By · Via Middle East Eye · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Recent heavy rainfall and strong winds have overwhelmed makeshift camps and damaged buildings across Gaza, leaving families exposed to severe weather. In Gaza City, residents are battling collapsed tents and breached shelters that have soaked essential bedding and clothing. In the al-Sabra neighbourhood, makeshift efforts using tarpaulins and basins failed to stop rain from pouring through cracked roofs and broken windows. These relentless floods exacerbate untreated medical conditions and illnesses among displaced children and parents alike.

Key points

  • Makeshift shelters across Gaza cannot withstand the impact of heavy winter rains and stro…: Makeshift shelters across Gaza cannot withstand the impact of heavy winter rains and strong winds.
  • Displaced families are dealing with compounding medical hardships alongside the destructi…: Displaced families are dealing with compounding medical hardships alongside the destruction of their shelters.
  • Lack of humanitarian supplies like tents and tarpaulins leaves vulnerable children expose…: Lack of humanitarian supplies like tents and tarpaulins leaves vulnerable children exposed to freezing weather.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

For the past four days, Nahla al-Majdoub, 48, and her family of eight have been staying with neighbours in the west of Gaza City after their tent was destroyed by the latest heavy rainfall.

Majdoub and her family had been sheltering in a makeshift tent at the port of Gaza for nearly two years after their home in the northern Gaza Strip was destroyed during Israel’s ground invasion.

But when heavy rain and strong winds swept across the besieged enclave last week, their fragile shelter could no longer protect them.

They were asleep when the storm began. They woke to the sound of thunder and rainwater pouring into their shelter, seeping through the roof and flooding the ground beneath their tent.

“I woke up soaking wet. I looked at my children, who were also wet and surrounded by water. We cried helplessly, not knowing what to do or how to protect them,” Majdoub said.

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