BEIRUT: For refugees displaced by conflicts in Syria and Gaza, high winds, blizzards and heavy rain have worsened their agony as the bad weather has also led to power outages in the Middle East, from Lebanon to Israel. According to Red Cross, two Syrians, including a six-year old boy, lost their lives to Hurricane Huda in a mountainous area of southern Lebanon, last week. Palestine has declared a state of emergency as a result of the hurricane. Whats worse is, the storm is forecast to last several days, threatening further disruption in Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The UNHCR prepared by distributing cash and fuel coupons to refugees, but admitted there are gaps in supplies. Snow and hail fell heavily in Lebanons Bekaa valley last week, where 400,000 Syrian refugees are sheltering in camps. Lauriane Gauny, programme manager in the Bekaa valley with the aid agency Oxfam, told Reuters, We are worried that tents will be flooded. Refugees who dont have proper access to clean water or cant store drinking water will be in severe difficulties if we dont reach them in the next two days.
Ali Eshtawi, a refugee from Homs who spoke by phone from a camp near the Syrian border, said snow had caused three tents to collapse, leaving 19 people without shelter. Theres no firewood, no diesel, he said.
The storm forced the closure of all Lebanese ports and briefly shut Beiruts international airport.
Elsewhere, Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip declared a state of emergency. In Gaza, coastal areas were evacuated due to storm surges.
Flooding has already become a problem in some low lying areas and is expected to get worse once the snow melts, said the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Especially concerning is the situation in Lebanon, where refugees are spread out in some 1,700 different locations. Reports say that more than 100 shelters and tents have been damaged and that flooding and standing water is a serious concern in places hit by heavy rains and high winds.
In hard to reach areas, including inside Syria and some parts of Iraq, temperatures have dipped. In Zaatari Jordans largest refugee camp with nearly 85,000 Syrians dozens of families, as of today, remain in emergency shelters after their tents collapsed under the weight of snow.
In Jerusalem there was panic buying in supermarkets last week before the arrival of the storm, and police closed the two main roads into the city to avoid a repetition of last years scenes when hundreds of cars were stranded on the city approaches during the worst winter storm in recent memory.
Schools and other government buildings were also closed and emergency services were put on alert. Israels police commissioner, Yohanan Danino, advised people to avoid Jerusalem until the storm had passed.
The cold weather was felt as far away as Turkey, where Turkish Airlines cancelled dozens of internal flights. Night-time temperatures in Ankara were forecast to plunge to -17C. While snow in the Middle East is reported to be rare, this week snow has hit hard in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. —
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