Gaza families struggle to recover from days of torrential rains

Deir Al-Balah: Palestinians in Gaza struggled to recover Tuesday from torrential rains that battered the enclave for days, flooding camps for the displaced, collapsing buildings already badly damaged in the two-year war and leaving at least 12 dead, including a two-week-old baby.

The downpour, which dumped more than 150 milliliters (9 inches) of rain on some parts of Gaza over the past week, turned dirt lanes to mud and flooded tents in camps for displaced people.

The Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, said Tuesday the two-week-old died of hypothermia as a result of the weather. The baby was brought to the hospital a few days ago and was transferred to intensive care but died on Monday.

In Gaza City, a man died Tuesday after a home already damaged during in Israeli strikes, collapsed because of the heavy rainfall, according to Shifa Hospital.

Members of the al-Hosari family said 30 people lived in the building, but just nine were home when it collapsed. The man who was killed was a worker who had come to fix the walls, they said. Five people were injured. The Health Ministry said the remaining 10 people were killed last week, also from buildings collapsing from the rain and heavy winds.

Emergency workers warned people not to congregate in damaged buildings due to concerns of collapse, though so much of the territory has been reduced to rubble, there are few places to escape the rain. In July, the United Nations Satellite Center estimated that almost 80% of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged.

“When we hear the news that there is a storm, our whole lives change, we start thinking about where to stay, to go, where to put our mattresses and blankets, and where to keep our children safe and warm,” said Mohammed Gharableh, a father displaced from the southern city of Rafah.

“During every storm like this, water penetrates our tents, and our mattresses and blankets get soaked,” he added.

In Israel, areas near Gaza received between 60 mm to 160 mm (2 to 6 inches) of rain in the past week,

according to the Israel Meteorological Service, which in some cases is more than twice the average amount of rain for this time of year.